


Hard to Say it Right

by nikkitaaaaa



Category: EXO
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-11 08:11:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 24,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15311223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nikkitaaaaa/pseuds/nikkitaaaaa
Summary: Chanyeol has always been in love with Baekhyun but Baekhyun thinks Chanyeol is just messing with him. How hard is it to say those three little words? How hard is it to make someone believe them? How may times do you need to say it? How hard is it to say it right?





	1. Just another morning

A six-year old lanky boy sat under a tree with his eyebrows scrunched in concentration and his tongue slightly sticking out as he struggled to write on a piece of paper with his right arm on a sling. Suddenly, he smiled, folded the paper as carefully as he could and stuck it in his pocket before standing up and heading back to the school building just as the bell rang.  
He entered the classroom and flopped down on a seat next to a small brown-haired boy who is doodling on his notebook. He nudged the other boy but he ignored him. He threw a piece of balled up paper at him but he just dodged it. He was about to reach out and pull his hair when the teacher walked in.   
The teacher droned on about the parts of the tree. He did not listen because he found it boring. He hated science. He glanced at the boy beside him who is now intently listening to the teacher. He smiled naughtily and decided to bug him again. He took out the folded piece of paper and chucked it to him. It hit him in the side of his face just as he bent down to write something. The boy let out a small shriek and he couldn’t help but laugh. The whole class turned to them. The teacher glared at them before walking towards them, snatching the paper he threw and unfolding it.   
She read it out loud.  
The other boy looked at him in hatred and rushed out of the room in tears before the teacher finished reading the letter.  
Boy, is he in deep trouble.

 

“I’ve heard that you once again made a racket in school yesterday. What do you say about that?” Eunju, his mom, nagged on while flipping pancakes on the frying pan.  
“News did travel fast.” Chanyeol replied with a grin which earned him a glare from his mom. His dad, Jihoon, just chuckled as he continued to read the morning news.  
“Jihoon, don’t chuckle. That kid might get the idea that we find his antics amusing.” Jihoon stood up from the table and hugged his wife from the back as she placed the pancakes on a plate. “Honey, that kid you are talking about is no longer a kid. He’s already in college, remember.” Jihoon quipped.  
“He doesn’t seem to act like one though.” Eunju mumbled as she set the plate on the table. Chanyeol just smiled as he chewed his mom’s famous pancakes. “Mom, it’s just a little thing. It’s nothing to worry about.”   
“Nothing to worry about?” she said with a glare, “You think being caught spying on the girl’s locker room is a little thing? I didn’t raise you to be a pervert.”   
Just as Chanyeol was about to respond to that, someone knocked on their door. He stood up rapidly to answer it and also to escape from his mom’s speech. He loves his mom but when she’s “in the zone” she’s worse than a dog on a sugar high when it comes to nagging.  
He opened the door and saw an angel. He’s not really an angel but he’s his angel. Not those with wings in heaven but someone who brightens up his day. His name is Baekhyun. Yeah, he’s bisexual, sue him. He loves both boys and girls but Baek (as he calls him) takes up the number one spot. With his brown hair, brown eyes, kissable lips (and don’t get him started on that body), he’s famous in their school to both boys and girl (though everyone knows he’s gay). They have been friends since their childhood days as they are neighbors but Baekhyun never seems to notice him as more than a friend/enemy.  
“Good morning sunshine!” Chanyeol greeted Baekhyun with his famous smile. The smile that is said to put Hollywood actors to shame.  
Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “Will you stop with those nicknames?” he said in a bored tone, being used to Chanyeol’s attitude.   
“How about, no? “  
“Whatever.” Baekhyun said as he walked past Chanyeol. Baekhyun’s practically family though. One time, Chanyeol asked why he still knocks to which he replied that he is not rude like some people. Chanyeol knows that Baek’s pertaining to him. He usually just barges into Baekhyun’s home and got lucky once to see him in the midst of changing clothes. If he had been earlier, he might have seen Baek without his pants also.   
Scratching his head, Chanyeol gently closed the door. No need to infuriate his mother any further by slamming the door shut with a kick as he usually does when he’s alone.  
“Yeol, Baek needs a ride to school. Will you take him?” Jihoon asked just as Chanyeol re-entered the kitchen.  
Chanyeol grabbed Baekhyun’s fork and took a piece of his pancakes which he assumed his mom had placed for him before mumbling, “Sure “, while deep inside he was actually celebrating. School is actually twenty minutes from here which means he got twenty wonderful minutes of alone time with Baekhyun.  
“Dad, I was sort of hoping you’ll be the one to take me.” Baekhyun grumbled. He calls Chanyeol’s parents Mom and Dad since they’re kids while Chanyeol calls Baekhyun’s parents Mommy and Daddy.   
Jihoon patted Baekhyun on the head. “As much as I want to, I promised Eunju that we’ll be going to town today right after breakfast. Since you and Chanyeol go to the same school, why not let him take you. You used to go together anyway.”  
“But he’s a jerk, Dad.” Baekhyun said with an adorable pout.  
“Well he won’t be Chanyeol if he’s not a jerk.” Eunju replied with a roll of her eyes.  
Way to go Mom, he thought. Other moms would probably say wonderful things about their son. His mom is definitely not one of those. “Thanks for the praise, Mom. I didn’t know you think so highly of me. We’ll be going then, see you later.” he said as he kissed his mom.  
“You know I love you anyway. Be safe and try staying out of trouble.” replied Eunju while tiptoeing to reach his six-footer son to ruffle his hair much to his chagrin.  
“Try to keep him in line Baekhyun. Only you could do it.”Jihoon said with a grin as Baekhyun said his goodbye.  
Baekhyun snorted in response. “And pigs do fly.”

“So sunshine, what’s the deal? You usually have someone who drives you to school. Do you just want to spend some time with me?” Chanyeol asked as he started the car.  
Baekhyun sighed. “Jeez, when will you ever stop?”  
“I’ll stop when you finally admit to yourself that you do like me and just want to spend alone time with me. “  
“When pigs fly.” he replied. Baekhyun put on his earphones and stared at the window to avoid further conversation. If only his jerk of a boyfriend, and he loosely used the term boyfriend to describe his relationship with Heechul, did not ditch him for his soccer practice then he would not be stuck on this ride with another jerk.   
Well, Chanyeol is not always a jerk. With that curly mop of hair, innocent looking face, and that adorable ears sticking out from his hair, one is inclined to think that he’s the sweetest person out there but that’s only until he opens his mouth. Actually, he sometimes does have those sweet moments. He remembered back when he was eight and he was crying in their backyard because his pet rabbit died. He saw Chanyeol went out of their house so he tried to wipe his tears. Chanyeol will tease him relentlessly if he ever saw him cry so he decided to pretend to be sleeping by closing his eyes and laying back on the tree he was leaning on. Suddenly, he felt something poking his cheeks and there was Chanyeol standing over him, holding a sunflower that he thinks he got from Mom’s garden. “Sunflowers always face happy things. If you won’t smile, it will wilt.” he said. He smiled then as he took the flower and they sat in silence until his mom went out going crazy about some irksome kid who disgraced his garden. He almost swallowed the flower to hide the evidence.   
Baekhyun wish he will always be like that.  
“A kiss for your thoughts?”   
Though he is wearing earphones, he was able to hear him. “No. You might turn into a prince.”   
“I’m already a prince.”   
“Really? And here I thought you were a frog.”  
“If it will gain me a kiss, I guess it’s okay to be a frog. How many kisses to make a frog turn into a prince?” Chanyeol grinned at Baekhyun before turning left on the corner.   
Baekhyun rolled his eyes at that. Chanyeol always flirts with him. He doesn’t mind it too much since he knows Chanyeol’s just messing with him. He has a lot of girls and boys around him so he knows that Chanyeol can choose whoever he wants to from them.   
“Don’t move.” Chanyeol said as he parked his car. He immediately went out and go around Baekhyun’s side to open his door. For all of the things Chanyeol usually does, Baekhyun can’t say that he’s not a gentleman. Baekhyun tries to stop the blush that’s creeping on his face. He really doesn’t know what to make of Chanyeol. One minute he’s acting like a jerk, the next minute he’s being sweet with him. Baekhyun gets off the car while looking around the parking lot. A lot of people are looking at them, probably wondering why they are together. Baekhyun mumbled, “Thanks”, before rushing towards the school building to avoid further commotion, leaving Chanyeol behind, scratching his head.  
Baekhyun entered the classroom just in time before the bell. He went to his usual seat between his two best friends, Jongdae and Minseok. Jongdae is the brown-haired boy who doesn’t seem to get fat regardless of how much he eats. His lips seem to be always in a perpetual smile that can lighten up anyone’s mood. Minseok, on the other hand, is the silver-haired, cat-eyed shortie who seems to be aging backwards. He’s the oldest of them but seems to look like the youngest in their group. Maybe one of these days he’ll ask for Minseok’s secret. He might have discovered the fountain of youth without telling them.  
“Why are you late today? Heechul did not fetch you?” Jongdae asked.  
“Nope. He has practice today. He’s already on his way to school when I woke up. Jerk did not even bothered to inform me last night.” Baekhyun grumbled.  
“So how did you get here?” Minseok asked.  
“I was forced to ride with Chanyeol.”   
Jongdae and Minseok looked at each other before bursting in laughter. “Yah! What’s so funny about that? Don’t you know how much I suffered? That 20 minute ride seemed to be the longest ride of my life.” Baekhyun said while giving Jongdae and Minseok individual slaps.  
Jongdae rubbed his arm which Baekhyun hit. “Why don’t you just go out together? Both of your parents won’t have a problem with that.” Baekhyun gagged. “Don’t even entertain that thought. You know how he is- having a different boy or girl every week. I don’t want to be another conquest. Besides, he’s not my type and you seem to have forgotten that I already have a boyfriend.”  
“Riiiiight.” Jongdae and Minseok chorused while rolling their eyes.  
“Aish. What now?” Baekhyun whispered just as their teacher entered the room.  
“Nothing. It’s just that Heechul seems to be always busy nowadays and doesn’t have any time for you.” Minseok said, putting finger quotes on the word busy. Baekhyun just glared at Minseok then proceeded to open his book as instructed by their teacher. He doesn’t want to hear those kind of things about Heechul. It’s already too much that he thinks about them. He doesn’t need to hear it being verbalized.

 

Chanyeol is rocking on his chair, with his feet on the desk while scanning his phone. Their teacher apparently is absent so they got free period.   
“What’s up?” Sehun asked before kicking Chanyeol’s feet off the desk. Lucky for him, he caught the desk before he toppled over or else, he’s going to give that blond-haired dancer a nice punch on his face.   
“It’s ‘what’s up, hyung’ to you.” Chanyeol said while grinding his fist on Sehun’s head. Though Sehun is younger, he’s almost as tall as Chanyeol that sometimes, he seems (or chooses) to forget that Chanyeol’s older. “What are you doing in my classroom?”  
Jongin entered the room at that time, putting his bag on Chanyeol’s desk. The dark-haired dancer is at the same age as Sehun. The three of them became friends due to their love for basketball, unfortunately, the two left the varsity to pursue dancing. The dance team has been winning competitions since the both of them, along with Yixing (their Chinese transferee friend), joined the team. “Where’s Yixing hyung and Junmyeon hyung?”  
“Yixing said he missed breakfast so he’s probably at the canteen, charming the cafeteria ladies to give him food. He knows they can’t resist his dimples and his, to quote him, innocent-looking face. Junmyeon might be in the library to catch-up on his reading or whatever. You know how he is. He needs to maintain his perfect image as the hardworking and studious student government president.”  
“Boring.” Sehun said while rummaging Chanyeol’s bag for any food. “Why don’t we go outside and shoot some hoops. We got no classes until after lunch.”  
“Sure. Just let me text Lay and Suho just in case they want to join us.” Chanyeol took out his phone just in time to get a Instagram notification (yeah, he set his Instagram to alert him when Baekhyun posts). He immediately opened it and saw a selfie of Baekhyun, winking at the camera with his tongue slightly sticking out. He took a screenshot of it before double-tapping the picture. He put his phone in his pocket and looked up, just to discover Sehun and Jongin grimacing at him.  
“What?”   
Sehun and Jongin shook their heads before picking up their bags and started to the door. “That’s so creepy, hyung.” Chanyeol followed after them, giving them slaps on the side of their heads. “Shut up, both of you.”


	2. Skin as white as snow

Sehun passed the ball to Chanyeol, watching as the other dribbled past Yixing who joined the game a couple of minutes ago. He watched as Chanyeol shoot the ball, earning them another point. Jongin glared at Yixing but Yixing just smiled at him sheepishly. On a corner, Junmyeon is watching them, opting to not join them to balance the teams. In all honesty, Sehun thinks that it’s good that he did not join. Junmyeon hyung is not the sporty type but he’s so competitive, much more competitive than Chanyeol.

They played for quite some time before calling it a break, just in time as the lunch bell rang. They sat under the shade of the tree, munching on the food Junmyeon bought for them. They are laughing at something Junmyeon said when Chanyeol suddenly stood up and craned his neck, looking for something or someone.

“What are you looking for, Chanyeol?” Yixing asked while unwrapping another sandwich.

Jongin snickered. “It’s not what, hyung. It’s who.”

“Are we talking about Baekhyun again?” Junmyeon asked. “Who else?” Sehun replied, earning him another slap from Chanyeol. “Hyung, stop hitting me or else I’ll tell Baekhyun how sadistic you are.”

Chanyeol gave him another slap. “Will all of you shut up and just eat?” He continued looking for the brown-haired angel, knowing that he likes to eat lunch with his friends near the courts.

 

 

Baekhyun rushed outside the building just after the bell rang, followed by Jongdae and Minseok. They need to rush if they want to secure their favorite spot near the basketball courts. Baekhyun plopped on the grass under the shade of the biggest tree on the grounds, thankful that they got here first. He lied down for a bit, waiting for the two slowpokes to arrive.

 

 

Chanyeol saw his angel running among the crowds towards his angel’s favorite spot. He stood up and forced Sehun to change places with him to get a better view of his angel, who is now lying down on the grass, completely unaware of the stares directed at him. He saw someone starting to approach Baekhyun. Darn that Taemin! Chanyeol stood up once more and run towards Baekhyun, almost tripping on his gangly legs.

 

Baekhyun felt someone beside him. He did not notice that he started to drift off. He opened his eyes to see huge black eyes staring at him. He gave a shout and scrambled to get up, hitting Chanyeol with his head. “What the?” Chanyeol said while clutching his own head. “Why are you being such a creep? Who stares at someone sleeping?” Baekhyun retorted while rubbing his head. Darn that monkey. His head hurts.

“You should be thankful it’s me and not some dork who thinks he’s God’s gift to all just because he can dance.”

“Aren’t you talking about yourself? Oh, right. You can’t dance so it’s not you.”

“Shut up.”

“Uhm, will you two lovebirds get a room?” Jongdae mocked.

“Oh, shut up Jongdae. It’s both your fault that I almost got molested by this monkey. What took you so long?”

“We got sidetracked by Mr. Choi. Apparently, the school will be holding a sort of play competitions, and as part of the drama club, we are asked to ensure that every class under his Literature class will participate.” Minseok explained as he sat down and rummaged his bag for their food.

Baekhyun pouted. “I hate plays.”

“So why did you join the drama club?” Chanyeol asked.

“Why are you still here?” Baekhyun shouted as he throw a bread at Chanyeol. Chanyeol caught the bread and shouted, “Thanks for the lunch, sunshine!” before rushing off to wherever he came from.

Baekhyun huffed and ask for another bread from Jongdae which earned him a glare from the latter. “Why don’t you get it back from your boyfriend? You look so lovey-“Jongdae was not able to finish his sentence as Baekhyun got him on a chokehold.

Minseok decided to intervene before things get worse. “Aish. Will both of you stop and let’s each lunch peacefully? Here’s another bread, Baek. Jongdae stop bothering Baek. ”

 

 

Chanyeol walked back to his friends while munching on the bread he got from Baekhyun.

“What happened to your head?” Junmyeon asked.

“Love hurts.” Chanyeol replied which made his friends gag.

 

 

“Due to the large number of Literature classes, we decided in the English department to divide the classes into groups of two. So Eng401 will be combined with one of the other 9 classes taking Literature.” Mr. Choi explained to his engineering students. Chanyeol is half-listening while editing his previous screenshot of Baekhyun. Another picture to add to his collection. If someone saw his gallery, they might confuse it to Baekhyun’s due to the large number of stolen photos, screencaps, and saved photos of the guy. He’s intently cropping the image that he was startled when he heard Music401, Baekhyun’s class.

He nudged Yixing who is already half-asleep. “What did he say about Music401?”

“Do you think I listened?” Yixing grumbled. Chanyeol decided to ask Junmyeon infront of him.

“We’ll be partnered with Music401 for the play. Why are you not listening?” Junmyeon chastised him before focusing infront again. He did not see how Chanyeol’s eyes twinkle. Finally, a reason to get together with his angel.

Towards the end of the class, Mr. Choi asked them what play they have in mind. A lot of the giggling girls are suggesting fairytales while giving Chanyeol side-eyed flirty glances. He just sat there and smiled at them while ruffling his hair in what he thinks is a sexy way. The girls swooned so he thinks it’s effective. Honestly, everyone knows he’s bisexual. But it seems as if the girls doesn’t care at all. They think they’ll be the one to make him stick to the girls team.

He can’t wait for the classes to be over. Apparently, they will have a combined meeting with Music401 to discuss the play.

 

 

At the end of the classes, Baekhyun is dragging his feet towards their assigned room along with Jongdae and Minseok. His head is pounding after that nerve-wracking Math exam and he’s not in the mood to deal with Chanyeol during the combined meeting. When they arrived at the room, the engineering class is seated at the left side of the room while their classmates are seating at the right side. The three of them chose the seats at the back, with Baekhyun choosing the one closest to the wall to which he leaned his pounding head to.

 

 

Chanyeol waited anxiously for the combined meeting to start. He went early to the assigned room, ignoring the teasing from his friends. Five minutes before the designated time, Baekhyun and his friends entered the room. He noticed how tired Baekhyun was looking as he took his seat, making him worry. He was about to go to Baekhyun when Tiffany pulled his shirt and asked him something.

 

Baekhyun woke up to the sound of someone giggling irritably. He look for the source of that irritating giggle just to discover Chanyeol smiling at a giggling witch. Ugh. Can’t they just flirt outside? He started to pound his head to the wall, trying to ease his headache.

 

Why is she so irritating? Can’t she stop for a minute? She’s been giggling non-stop. Chanyeol just kept on smiling at Tiffany even though he’s on the verge of strangling her. He discreetly looked at Baekhyun and saw him pounding his head on the wall. What the hell is he doing now? He looked at Yixing, who was smiling at him and giving him a thumbs up sign. What’s that for? He mused.

From the corner of his eye, he saw someone approach Baekhyun. He think it’s a boy from Baek’s class. Minho or something. Baekhyun gave Minho a smile as the other gave him something that looks like a medicine. Darn it. He should have been the one doing that, instead he’s here listening to Tiffany ramble on and on. He just want to escape from her so he decided to stand up.

Suddenly there was an applause. What the heck is happening? He sat down again.

“We finally got a volunteer!” Jongdae, who was presiding the meeting along with Yunho, shouted.

“What?”

Jongdae ignored his question and went on. “Now that we got the prince casted, who would like to volunteer to be the princess?” A lot of hands came up. Even Tiffany is jumping from her seat.

“Oh. Looks like we got a lot of volunteers. Yah, Chanyeol, couldn’t you have volunteered earlier so that we got this part over with immediately?” Yunho chuckled. Chanyeol is on the verge of strangling those two. He did not volunteer but they are not listening. Junmyeon and Yixing are almost out of breath, laughing at him.

“Settle down everyone.” Jongdae shouted. “Since we got the prince casted from engineering class, I think it’s fair to have the princess casted from the music class.” Protests could be heard from the engineering girls while the music class is clapping.

A naughty thought suddenly crossed Jongdae’s mind. “How about Baekhyun?” he said.

Silence followed his suggestion until, “WHAT??” Baekhyun screamed. “What are you saying? I’m not cross-dressing. No-uh.”

A lightbulb seemed to light into the boys around. Chanyeol can imagine them visualizing Baekhyun dressed up as a princess. Did he already mentioned how a lot of guys are after Baekhyun? Suddenly, a chorus of “let Baekhyun do it” came from the guys to Baekhyun’s bewilderment.

Jongdae snickered. “Okay, let’s settle this thru voting. Those in favor of Baek as the princess, please raise your hand.” All of the guys raised their hands. “Majority wins. Sorry Baek.” He said to a shocked Baekhyun who resumed pounding his head to the wall while promising retribution.

The other girls, accepting their defeat, are shouting congratulations to Baekhyun even saying that Baek will make a beautiful princess. His hands alone are the daintiest of them all. Some girls however, like Tiffany, kept on glaring at Baekhyun.

“I just want this day to be over. It’s just a nightmare.” Baekhyun mumbled while he continues to knock his head to the wall. He ignored the rest of the discussion on how they will be performing Snow White.


	3. How lucky can I be?

Chapter 3

Baekhyun saw Heechul running towards him after he got out of that dreadful meeting. His head is pounding again just thinking of him playing Snow White. The most dreadful part? He’ll be performing with the jerk. Curse you, Jongdae!

“Hi babe!” Heechul kissed him on the cheeks. “Sorry for this morning. I forgot to tell you last night about my early practice. Do you want to have dinner together?”

Baekhyun sighed. He wants to spend time with his boyfriend but he’s really not feeling well.  “I’m kinda tired right now. My head’s been pounding since this afternoon.”

“Math test?” They started walking towards the parking lot to Heechul’s car. Baekhyun can still see Chanyeol’s car in the lot. So he hasn’t gone home yet. Baekhyun shook his head. Why am I thinking about him?

“Yeah. You know how I hate Math.” Baekhyun pouted. “Also, we’ll be having this play for Lit class. Ugh. I hate plays.”

Heechul chuckled. “Remind me again why you are in the drama club?” He unlocked the car and went around to the driver’s side.

Baekhyun unlocked the passenger’s side and went in. “You know I only joined because of Jongdae and Minseok. I don’t want to join a club wherein I don’t know anyone. I can’t join your soccer club so I have no choice but to tag along with Jongdae and Minseok.” He grumbled as Heechul started the car. As they drive out of the parking lot, he saw Chanyeol walking towards his car with a girl clinging on him. He craned his neck to see if it’s that giggly Tiffany.

Heechul whistled. “Isn’t that Chanyeol? What’s he doing with Hyuna? I thought he’s going out with Tiffany. Or is it Sunmi? Darn. I wish I can be like him. He can get whoever he wants.” He chuckled then gulped when he met Baekhyun’s glaring eyes. “I’m just kidding babe. You know I only have my eyes on you.”

Baekhyun snorted as they drive past houses towards Baekhyun’s home. “Yeah, right.”

The car stopped abruptly. Heechul turned to him. “Do we have a problem, babe.” Baekhyun sighed. “Nothing. It’s just that lately you seem to be so busy. We barely see each other. For the past weeks, the only time we’ve been together is when you give me a ride to and from school. Then this morning, you are even so busy to do that.” He could feel tears forming in his eyes. Ugh. This is so embarrassing, he thought as some tears fell. 

Heechul leaned over to wipe Baekhyun’s tears. “Hey, don’t cry. Sorry if I’m so busy lately. You know that the tournament is next month. We’ve been practicing non-stop. I promise I’ll make it up to you.” Warm lips pressed against Baekhyun’s lips. He closed his eyes and gave himself over to the kiss.

A car honked, startling them. Baekhyun turned around and saw Chanyeol on the car behind them. He honked the car again. Heechul gave Baekhyun one last peck on the lips before he started the car again and continue driving home. Chanyeol was behind them until they arrive at Baekhyun’s house as if ensuring that they indeed went home before turning to his own house.

 

“Yeol, how many times do I have to tell you to put your dirty clothes in the laundry bin?” Chanyeol heard his mom right outside his bathroom door.

Chanyeol scrubbed his body with a towel before putting on his favorite shirt and boxers. “Mom, that’s not dirty yet. I can still wear those.” He said as he stepped out of the bathroom. He can see his mom holding his pants between her thumb and index finger with a bewildered expression on her face.

“What? Can’t you see how dirty it looks? Also, it’s already starting to smell. I’ll just put it in the laundry. Honestly, why do they like you? You’re such a slob.” Eunju remarked.

Chanyeol went to his mom to give her a hug. “It’s because of my looks and charming personality. Nobody but you knows I’m a slob anyway.”

“Baekhyun knows. Maybe, that’s why he chose that Heechul guy over you.”

Chanyeol scrunched his nose at that. He doesn’t want to be reminded of Heechul and Baekhyun. Who knows what might have happened if he didn’t honked at them a while ago. “Mom, you should be cheering me on. Not emphasizing on my flaws.”

“You’ve been in love with Baekhyun for who knows how long, but you haven’t made any progress at all. Maybe you should change something about yourself. Maybe he doesn’t like big ears.” Eunju said while trying to cover his ears.

He tried to get away from his mom who might start cutting his ears any minute now. “Stop that Mom. Many find my ears adorable.”

“Maybe he thinks you’re too tall?”

“Nothing I can do about that Mom.”

Eunju held his son’s face between his hands. Turning it from left to right. “You’re handsome enough. Maybe he just doesn’t like you.”

“Or maybe he finds you irritating.” His sister, Yoora, quipped as she poked her head into the room. She looks to have just come home from work, still wearing her office uniform.

“Yah! Will all of you stop ganging up on me?” he said as he started to push his mom and sister out of the room. “It’s because all of you are mean to me infront of Baekhyun that he only sees my bad side.”

“You have a good side?” he heard his sister shout just as he shut the door. He sat on his bed, staring at the window. He can see Baekhyun’s room from here but the curtains are closed in the room. He can see a silhouette of someone walking around the room. Contented that Baekhyun’s safe in his room, Chanyeol laid down, closed his eyes, and went to sleep.

 

Baekhyun has been tossing and turning in his bed for quite sometime now. He already turned off the lights to his room hours ago. The clock reads 2:00AM but sleep remains elusive. Giving up on sleep, he decided to open the windows to get fresh air. From here, he can see Chanyeol's window. The giant must be sleeping soundly. He remembered the time when he used to be able to just climb over the window (he's extremely proud of that feat) and bug Chanyeol when he couldn't sleep. Somewhere along the way they just drifted but not completely separared. It's like a string that's been stretched long but not snipped. 

Suddenly, the light went on on the other's room and he's now staring at a squinting Chanyeol. Before he can go back to bed, Chanyeol said, "hey, why aren't you sleeping?" The proximity of their houses makes it possible to hear him even without shouting. "Can't sleep again? You want to comeover?"

For some reasons, Baekhyun blushed. It's a good thing that it's still dark enough so Chanyeol can't see. "No. Thanks. I'm okay."

Chanyeol just stared at him for a while before leaving. Baekhyun thought he went back to sleep already so he also decided to just lie down again. Maybe he'll be able to sleep this time. 

As he closed his eyes, he heard guitar strumms. He doesn't need to see it to know that Chanyeol's the one playing. That guy is a gifted musician which made him wonder why he chose engineering as his major. There were times in the past wherein they used to play together - him on the piano and Chanyeol on the guitar. He's always the one singing though. Chanyeol's so shy to try to sing. There was one time when they were kids that their teacher asked Chanyeol to sing infront of the class as a punishment for being so noisy. Chanyeol chose to dance rather than sing and unfortunately, it's not a pretty sight to see. Baekhyun smiled at that memory and before he knows it, he fell asleep to the sound of the guitar.

 

Chanyeol has finished playing one song. It's a song he's been secretly composing for Baekhyun though he hasn't finished the lyrics yet. He continue to stare at the other's bedroom through the window and when he can no longer detect any signs of the other awake, he decided to get back to bed, satisfied at the thought of being the one to put Baekhyun to sleep. Maybe one day, he can sing his song infront of Baekhyun. Maybe one day, he'll be able to say how he feels.

 

The next morning, Baekhyun woke up to the sound of his phone's alarm. Slapping his hand around him as he refused to open his eyes, he tried to find his phone to turn the alarm off. Suddenly, the alarm stopped. Baekhyun decided to sleep again. Just as he was about to fall asleep, his alarm went off again. Grumbling, he rolled to his stomach and slowly sat up. 

"Hello sunshine!" he heard someone called chirpily. Who is so chirpy this early in the morning? He looked around and saw that he forgot to close the curtains before he fell asleep last night and he can see the giant munching on a toast opposite his room. His stomach started to grumble and he pouted, remembering that he was not in the mood to eat last night due to his head ache. He got up and closed the curtains without saying anything to his overly chirpy neighbor. Last night was a fluke. Better to stop Chanyeol from getting any thoughts that they are best buddies. It's too early to deal with him.

He went downstairs and was greeted by a note on the fridge. "Got to leave early. Just warm up the food on the table" the note read. He sighed. His parents are really so busy nowadays specially as it's already tax season. Owning a succesful accounting firm surely has its pros and cons. When he grew up, he'll definitely won't be an accountant. He definitely don't want to deal with numbers. Maybe he'll be a teacher. A music teacher to be exact. Baekhyun smiled at that thought as he started to eat the cold breakfast. 

His phone chimed signaling an incoming text message. The personalised ringtone informs him that it's from Heechul.

Babe: Got another early practice today. Can't fetch you again. It looks like it will be like this for a couple of weeks. Sorry. Will make it up to you. I promise. XOXO

Baekhyun sighed again. Nothing he can do about it anyway. He decided to chat Jongdae. Maybe he can drive by although it's out of his way. It will be more fun to go with him and Minseok (they're carpooling) rather than having Chanyeol drive him again (which is highly probable if he went over their house again). 

Baekhyun: Hey! Can you come and fetch me also? I promise I'll pay my share of the gas expense.

Awesome Jongdae: Ehh. Your house is soooo out of the way. 

Baekhyun: Pleaaaaase

Awesome Jongdae: Where's you "boyfriend"?

Baekhyun: Shut up. He got practice again. 

Awesome Jongdae: Ohh. Too bad. Why don't you just go with Chanyeol again? *snicker*

Baekhyun: Why don't I just walk to school?

Awesome Jongdae: What's wrong with Chanyeol? He seems friendly. You LOOK friendly together.

Baekhyun: Are you seriously out of your mind? Can't you see the smoke coming from my ears whenever he talks to me? He's an insufferable git. Always thinking he's the best.

Awesome Jongdae: But he is. Tall, handsome, charming, great basketball player, smart.. should I go on?

Baekhyun: Why don't you just write songs to his name then?

Awesome Jongdae: Seriously, why don't you like him? I thought you both were childhood friends.

Baekhyun stopped and thought. He couldn't remember exactly when they stopped being friends and why. It seems they just drifted apart as they grew up. Chanyeol started hanging out with the cool crowd and he, well, stayed the same. Though he's famous at school, he's not like Chanyeol who basks in it. He'd rather stay out of the spotlight while Chanyeol is practically living in the spotlight now. Moreover, Chanyeol continues to tease him about the littlest things that sometimes he just want to bash his head and get it over with.

Baekhyun: That's ages ago. Practically even before you hit puberty. Oh, wait. Have you hit yours yet? 'Cause you're so small. LOL

Awesome Jongdae: Says the one who's only an inch taller than me.

Baekhyun: I'm still taller.

Awesome Jongdae: Whatever. Go walk to school.

Baekhyun: (crying emoji) Noooo! Please fetch me! Pleaaaaase!!!!!!!

Awesome Jongdae: Nope. Actually we're already at school.

Awesome Jongdae: (Sent photo)

And there is a photo of Jongdae and Minseok smiling infront of the school doors.

Baekhyun: (angry emoji) Why do we went to that whole conversation if you're already at school??? And why are you so early anyway?

Awesome Jongdae: It's just fun messing with you. HAHAHAHA Minseok needs to be here early. Club stuff or something.

Baekhyun: What club stuff? We're on the same club!

Awesome Jongdae: Minseok here! Don't mind Jongdae. He's just messing with you again. I need to be here early because I volunteered to help out at the greenhouse and I'm dragging Jongdae along.

Baekhyun: Why did you not invite me along? Aren't we friends? (pouting emoji)

Awesome Jongdae: Maybe because you're so grumpy in the morning and you might use your hapkido skills on us if we decided to wake you up so early.

Baekhyun: I'm still not happy at both of you right now. (pouting emoji) I'll probably end up riding with the jerk again. (crying emoji)

Awesome Jongdae: You can walk to school. (laughing emoji)

Baekhyun: (angry emoji) Not funny Dae

Awesome Jongdae: Oops. Sorry. We'll buy you strawberry ice cream later (kissing emoji) LOL

Baekhyun: You bet you will.

Baekhyun closed the messaging app, washed the dishes before going upstairs to get ready for school. If he's lucky, maybe Dad will drive him to school instead of Chanyeol.


	4. I did not know that

Baekhyun entered the room just as the bell rang, dumping his bag on his table before slumping on his chair. Minseok, sitting beside Baekhyun, guessed the boy went to school with Chanyeol again. He can almost see the dark clouds above his friend's head. From the corner of his eye, he can see Jongdae about to poke Baekhyun from the back. He threw a warning glare at Jongdae, who fortunately got the hint. All throughout the day, Baekhyun was in a bad mood so they decided to steer clear from any conversation about Chanyeol. The only time that Baekhyun lit up was when they gave him the strawberry ice cream as promised. As the end of class bell rang, Baekhyun stood up and looked at Jongdae. "Can you please drop me home today? Heechul has practice again."

Jongdae gave him a puzzled look. "What are you talking about? We're still not going home. We got another meeting with the cast for the play."

"What? Why am I not informed?"

"Actually it was discussed during Lit class. We'll be meeting here." Minseok replied.

Baekhyun sat down again and banged his head on the desk. Won't he ever catch a break. It's definitely not his lucky day. He should have worn his lucky boxers, he thought as he watched his classmates went out of the room. Only a handful were left who will be taking an active role in the play.

A few minutes later, the door opened and some students he recognized from the meeting yesterday entered the room. Baekhyun sighed in relief as Chanyeol is not one of them. He knows that he's just delaying the inevitable but frankly, he just don't want to see that giant right now. He's still irked at Chanyeol from this morning.

"Okay. Let's start the meeting." Yunho said from the fromt of the class. "Jongdae and I will be overseeing this whole play so we are asking everyone to make this easy for us. "

"Yah. Those who won't cooperate will be reported to Mr. Choi as instructed and will probably fail the class." Jongdae said happily. Baekhyun thinks Jongdae really has a weird humor. "So we got our pretty princess here. Where's our charming prince?"

Yunho scratched his head. "Uhm. He got held up a bit."

"He's receiving a confession right now." Sehun shouted from the back of the room before laughing.

Baekhyun can hear whispers along the lines of "Chanyeol's so lucky", "who might the girl be?", "will Chanyeol accept?", and a lot more.

"Hush everyone." Yunho shushed at the group. "Let's move on from Chanyeol's love life. He'll be here in a while and you can ask him directly once the meeting is over." He looked at the paper he's holding. "So everyone here agreed (Baekhyun grumbled) that we'll be performing Snow White with a twist as our leading lady will be played by a well, non-lady. To save Baekhyun from embarrassment, Jongdae and I thought that it might be better if Baekhyun will not cross-dress. Meaning he'll be playing as a man. I know that it's unconventional but we already checked with Mr. Choi and he's onboard with it. Our school anyway is open to same-sex relationships. Does everyone agree with our decision?" The group mumbled their consent. It doesn't affect them anyway.

Jongdae took over from there. "Moving on to the next topic. To further enhance the entertainment factor of our play, we thought of making it a - drum roll please-" Yunho provided the necessary effect "- musical! Eh? What do you think?"

The music students are quite okay with the decision however some engineering students look indecisive.

Seeing those faces, Yunho addressed his classmates. "I know music is not our forte but aside from the lead roles, most will have minimal lines. We'll ensure that everyone will get the help they need. The music students headed by Minseok already agreed to help in the vocal coachings while the engineering class headed by Junmyeon will lead the props making."

Minseok then raised his hand. "We're willing to give our best to help those who have problems with vocals. Don't worry, I'll help in the script writing along with Yixing from your class who I learned a while ago composes from time to time. We'll ensure that the lines will be delivered with minimal effort. Think of it as speaking lines with a bit of melody."

The engineering students seemed to be appeased knowing that at least someone they know will help them.

"But does Chanyeol know how to sing?" Tiffany asked from the back of the room. The group fell silent. Apparently nobody has heard Chanyeol sing. It will be troublesome if the prince can't carry a tune.

Baekhyun decided to speak up. "He can play the guitar. But as to his singing ability, I never heard him sing even during our childhood days." Suddenly, everyone's looking at him. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"We don't know that you're close to Chanyeol." Taemin answered.

"I'm not-" Baekhyun started to argue but was stopped by the sudden opening of the door and a breathless Chanyeol entering the room. Speaking of the devil, he thought.

"Sorry. I got held up. Did I miss anything?" Chanyeol said as he started walking towards an empty seat between Jongin and Sehun.

"So how did it go? Did you accepted her confession? Are you hooking up with her tonight?" Sehun asked not so quietly.

Chanyeol hit him on the side of the head. "Will you shut up?" he said before glancing at Baekhyun to see if he heard Sehun. Based on the grimace on Baekhyun's face, there's a 99.9% chance that he heard it.

Jongdae cleared his throat loudly and Chanyeol faced infront. "We were just discussing if you can sing as we decided on performing a musical. So, can you?"

"Do I really need to?" Chanyeol asked while rubbing his nape, a sure sign that he's getting uncomfortable.

"We can replace you if you can't. How about we go with Taemin as the prince?" Jongdae suggested. Before Taemin could reply, Chanyeol blurted "No!".

Everyone turned to him, including Baekhyun. He can feel his ears getting red now. He need to think of a reason for his enthusiastic refusal to be replaced. "Uhm. I..already told my mom that I got the lead role and she's already excited about it. I guess she already posted it on her sns account. You know how moms are. I don't want to disappoint her."

Jongdae tilted his head at Chanyeol. Chanyeol began sweating as he waited for Jongdae's decision. After a while, Jongdae agreed to retain his role. "However, we still need to hear you sing. We cannot have a lead who sings off-tune." Jongdae chuckled at the thought. "We all heard the Angel sing" referring to Baekhyun who is terribly embarrassed by the nickname given to him in school as he's said to have a voice of an angel "so we just need to hear you sing."

Chanyeol sighed. Looks like he's not getting out of this. Why do they have to make it a musical? "What do you want me to sing?"

"You can sing anything." Yunho replied.

Chanyeol took a deep breath and decided to sing the song that's been stuck on his head since this morning- the one playing on the radio as he drive with Baekhyun to school. Here goes nothing, he thought.

"What would I do without your smart mouth  
Drawing me in, and you kicking me out  
Got my head spinning, no kidding, I can’t pin you down  
What’s going on in that beautiful mind  
I’m on your magical mystery ride  
And I’m so dizzy, don’t know what hit me, but I’ll be alright

My head’s under water  
But I’m breathing fine  
You’re crazy and I’m out of my mind

'Cause all of me  
Loves all of you  
Love your curves and all your edges  
All your perfect imperfections  
Give your all to me  
I’ll give my all to you  
You’re my end and my beginning  
Even when I lose I’m winning  
'Cause I give you all, all of me  
And you give me all, all of you"

Everyone's quiet when he ended the song. He opened his eyes (he did not know when he closed it) and saw everyone staring at him once again. He doesn't know what they think. Even the usual noisy Sehun is silently staring at him but only one opinion really matters. He glanced at Baekhyun and he saw him secretly wiping his eyes. Did he cry because it's good or because his ears hurt so bad hearing me sing? He thought.

"Well I guess that settles it. Chanyeol retains the role of the prince."

 

What the heck just happened? Baekhyun thought as he walked out of the room after the meeting. They polished a few more things and decided to start with practicing next week once the script has been finished. He never thought that jerk can sing that well. Yeah, the jerk got that deep and sexy (that's what they use to describe it) voice but he didn't know that it's the same to his singing voice. He was actually moved to tears as Chanyeol sang. He can actually feel the emotions swirling in the air as the other sang.

"Baekhyunah!" Minseok said as he waved his hand infront of Baekhyun's face. He's about to poke his nose when Baekhyun stopped him. "What's got into you? I've been calling your name a few times already."

Jongdse snickered. "Don't mind him. He's still in awe over Chanyeol's voice."

"I'm not!"

"Really? I saw you wiping your tears there."

"Something just got in my eye." Baekhyun insisted.

Both Jongdae and Minseom snorted at that.

"Oh, shut up. Just take me home please."

Their group is already near where Jongdae parked when they saw Chanyeol at a distance, talking to a girl. Being a natural gossip, Jongdae stopped to observe. No matter how much Baekhyun tried to get him to move, he refused until he get the scoop. Baekhyun gave up at the end and just leaned on Jongdae's car beside Minseok. He started playing with his phone, uninterested on what's going on again with Chanyeol's crazy love life. Trying to keep up with it is like watching a hundred seasons of Keeping up with the Kardashians.

"Oh no." Baekhyun got distracted by Jongdae's words. He slowly moved towards Jongdae to see what's happening. He got curious, sue him.

He's just in time to see the girl flung herself at Chanyeol and kissed him. Baekhyun immediately felt bothered for some reasons so he dragged Jongdae back towards the car and nagged him until he finally opened the car to drive them home.


	5. It's worth it anyway

A week passed in a blur and before Baekhyun knows it, it's time for their first practice for the musical. Everyone agreed to have it on a Saturday so as to maximize the time. Fortunately, the school allowed them to use the auditorium for their practice. The scripts and music sheets were given just the night before so Baekhyun has not yet gone over it. Who does homework on a Friday night anyway? He lazily flips over the script, scanning over his lines and humming the melody for some. Near the end of the script, he almost fell from his seat. "WHY IS THERE A KISSING SCENE HERE?"

Minseok who was busy coaching Tiffany, who will be playing the evil queen (which suits her to Baekhyun's opinion), turned at his yell. "Oh! You just read the script today? Well, we tried doing away with the kissing scene but it's a sort of the highlight of the story." Yixing nodded in agreement. 

"No way am I doing a kissing scene with that jerk. Who knows what I sickness I will get from him."

"Hey! I'm clean!" Chanyeol objected. "You're lucky to receive a kiss from me. Don't you know how many want to?"

Baekhyun gagged. "Well, just kiss them. Don't go anywhere near my lips." He covered his mouth with his hand for good measure before stomping back to his seat. He threw Minseok a glare. This is his fault. Can't they just change the scene? Do they really need a kissing scene to wake up Snow White? Maybe they can change the ending to one wherein Snow White just wakes up one day and live happily ever after.

"Hey, don't be mad at me. We can work around it. How about we just stage it as if you kissed? It will be about finding the right angle for both of you." Minseok said as he sat down beside Baekyun. "You know I won't force you to do something you don't want to."

"You won't but Jongdae would. He seems to bask on my misery." 

Minseok laughed. "Don't worry about him. I'll take care of it." Baekhyun nodded. He believes in his hyung anyway.

 

"A kissing scene, eh? How much did you bribe Yixing to ensure that there's such a scene?" Jongin ribbed Chanyeol in their corner of the room. 

Yixing argued as he double-checks the script to ensure that everything is good. "Yah. Jongin, what do you take me for? I'm not easy to bribe."

Chanyeol shushed them "I did not do such a thing so stop it. Baekhyun might get angrier at me if he hears you and believes it. Stop hanging out with Sehun. His attitude is rubbing on you." 

"He's already angry at you hyung. I don't think it will matter." Sehun added to the conversation. He lowered his voice to his imitation of Chanyeol's voice. "You're lucky to kiss me." Sehun and Jongin laughed while Yixing just scratched his head at them.

"Seriously, shut up. You know I get easily riled up and my mouth just spouts whatever it wants to at those times." He said as he tried to knock Sehun and Jongin's heads together.

Junmyeon approached them then. "Will you guys behave? We don't want to give the other class the impression that we're buffoons." He sat next to them and continue tinkering with whatever props he's making.

 

Yunho clapped his hands together to get everyone's attention. "Will the main cast gather here in front? We'll start with the run through of the script. Those in charge of the props, kindly stay on the left side while those in charge of choreography, stay on the right. You may move at the back if you need more space. Those in charge of the vocal coachings, come to the front also so that you can assess the coaching needed. We need to have everything put together by next week as the competition is three weeks from now."

Everyone moved towards their designated places. Their combined number in the group is 40, so aside from the main cast, some actors will also be helping in the props making, choreography, or coaching. The props making is the largest group as they are in charge of almost everything- the set props, the costumes, posters, and a lot more. Junmyeon however seems to be enjoying the responsibility. Chanyeol does not know Junmyeon even has the time for this as he also have SG president duties. All he know is that once Junmyeon set his eyes on something, he won't stop until he achieve it. He's a total opposite of Sehun and Jongin who both are so happy-go-lucky. Yixing on the other hand is almost as passionate as Junmyeon. He's keen on perfection in everything he does but unlike Junmyeon, Yixing still knows how to lay back and chill. In their group, Chanyeol seems to be the most normal. He's not too perfectionist and not too laid back. The only thing that he really set his heart on is Baekhyun. 

They used to be close. Growing up as neighbors, they are mostly on each other's houses during their childhood days. They play together, go to school together, and do a lot more stuff together. They used to be together from sun up until sun down. Their parents even need to drag them away from each other when it's already bed time. They're so adamant to staying together that they just sleep over at each other's houses most of the times. The only time they got into a big fight was when they were six years old and Chanyeol unintentionally embarrassed Baekhyun in class. It took a lot of strawberries and promises before he got Baekhyun to talk to him again. He was honestly miserable during those times that he was at the moon when they finally made up. 

Thoughts of those childhood days made him wonder where did they went wrong. Back then, he thought that they'll always be at each other's side, no matter how cheesy that sounds. But one day, Baekhyun just started being cold at him until gradually he ignored him. You might think it will be impossible with how they were practically raised together but it happened. On their first year of college, they just stopped talking. Maybe being in different courses is also a factor. Maybe Baekhyun thought he'll major in Music also and got disappointed at him when he chose Engineering instead. Maybe it's something he did that he didn't notice hurt Baekhyun. No matter what it was, it brought a huge gap between them that only by teasing Baekhyun does he get his attention. He'd rather be the jerk who always tease him rather than being a nobody. 

In all honesty, he tried moving on from Baekhyun. He dated a lot. But in the end, his eyes still stray. His eyes still look for that pair of brown eyes that he adores so much. Those eyes that seems to be crescents whenever the other smiles. So he stopped dating. He can no longer deny that all this time, it's only Baekhyun who he likes. However, he already got the reputation. Every boy or girl he hangs out with suddenly becomes someone he's dating. Then there are those who spread rumors of hooking up with him, simply because it's considered a privilege. Only his group of friends know that he stopped dating and fooling around a year ago- the same time he realized that it's still Baekhyun all this time. He's not sure if it's love or what. Maybe he's still too young to know if it's love.  All he knows is it's a feeling that consumes him. He practically lives to see Baekhyun everyday and the day that Baekhyun and that darn Heechul got together is the day he regrets the most. Heechul doesn't deserve someone like Baekhyun. He already heard some whispers that Heechul is fooling around with someone but he was not yet able to find proof of it. Heechul still seems to know how to be discreet somehow. The day he learns the truth will be the day he'll show Baekhyun Heechul's true colors. And maybe, no matter how bad it might sound, Baekhyun might turn to him for comfort. 

A sharp stab to his ribs brought him out of his thoughts. He looked up and saw Jongdae glaring at him. "Uhm. Sorry. I stayed up late last night." he reasoned while he rubbed his nape. 

"Now that we got our prince back, we can finally continue. We're already at Scene 4, Act 3. It's the first time the prince will be shown. Can you read the notes or do you want Yixing to coach you through it?" Jongdae asked in an irked tone.

"I can read it." He replied hastily before he can invoke Yunho's wrath also. Yunho is almost as worse as Junmyeon when it comes to this kind of things. He looked at his script and sang the lines, glancing up when he's done. Jongdae gave him an approving nod before moving on the next person.

After a couple of minutes, it was Baekhyun's turn. Chanyeol can't believe that he missed Baekyun's earlier parts. That's how engrossed he was to his thoughts. As expected, Baekhyun sang it perfectly. He almost want to clap his hands but restrained himself. He suddenly felt someone tugging his sleeve. He looked down and saw a pouting Tiffany who's trying her hard to look cute. "Yeollie, can you please help me with my lines? I don't know how to sing these parts." Chanyeol internally sighed before proceeding to help Tiffany. Tiffany won't stop bugging him until he gave in anyway.

Baekhyun heard Tiffany flirting at Chanyeol. Her voice feels like a thousand nails scraping at the board. He wants to throw up at how sugary her voice is. On the other hand, Chanyeol who seems to be enjoying the attention, started to help her. Ugh. Can they just get a room please?

They continued with the run through until they got to the kissing scene. "Do we really need this scene?" Baekhyun asked grumpily.

"You know we do." Jongdae answered with an evil glint in his eyes. Seriously, it's as if Jongdae's life mission is to make Baekhyun miserable.

"How about we practice this scene already so that we can get it over with?" Yunho asked. Chanyeol's ears perked at those words. He hope no one can see how excited he was but based on the look Minseok is giving him, he's hope is in vain. 

"Should we do it like a peck on the lips, lingering for a second or two?" Jongdae suggested. Chanyeol can already see Baekhyun about to protest at those words while he, on the other hand, is rejoicing on the inside. 

"Maybe we can just do it in such a way that they will seem to be kissing but in reality they're not? It will be all about the angles and positioning." Minseok suggested. Chanyeol can see Baekhyun nodding his head enthusiastically. 

"Ehh. Party pooper." Jongdae mumbled. Minseok glared at him.

They decided to go with Minseok's suggestion. Chanyeol cannot object without being too obvious so he just went with it. The props team put together some chairs for Baekhyun to lie down but once Chanyeol hovered it, they realized it's too low for Chanyeol to bend to. They stacked a couple of chairs before they tried again. Once again, Baekhyun lied down on top of the combined chairs. Chanyeol stepped infront of it and looked at Baekhyun who was glaring up at him. He can't help but grin which made Baekhyun madder. 

"Okay Chanyeol, try getting your face closer to Baekhyun. We'll check if this angle works or of you need to shift more." He heard Yunho instruct. He bent down to Baekhyun until their faces are only a couple of inches away. It's kind of awkward to be this close with the other glaring at you. 

"Can you please not breathe on me? It stinks." Baekhyun hissed. Chanyeol then puffed his breath more at Baekhyun, much to the other's anger. Baekhyun's about to push Chanyeol when Yunho spoke again. 

"Move a bit to the left." Chanyeol moved as instructed. "Move back a bit." He moved again. "Can you bend a bit more?" He bent more until their face is almost touching. Baekhyun who seem to be unable to bear it anymore, squeezed his eyes shut. It really made Chanyeol want to kiss him more.

"Perfect! Remember that position please." Yunho declared. "Props team, ensure that the props will be the same height as those."

Just as Baekhyun opened his eyes, Chanyeol can't hold it back any longer. He pecked Baekhyun on the corner of his lips. It happened so fast that all Baekhyun can do is widen his eyes. After a beat or two, he sat up and pushed Chanyeol, wiping his lips harshly. "What the heck?"

"Oops. Sorry my back cramped a bit so I moved. It's all unintentional." Chanyeol said with his hands raised at his side.

"Unintentional my ass." Baekhyun punched him not so gently on the stomach before jumping off the chairs and stomping to get his things at the back of the room. Chanyeol just stared at Baekhyun's back while hunched over, thinking that the kiss is worth the pain. But maybe he could have just kissed him full on the lips.


	6. Curtains up!

Days passed quickly and before Baekhyun noticed it, it's already the day of the competition. Heechul drove Baekhyun to school. After weeks of almost not seeing him, Baekhyun was surprised to see him when he opened the door that morning. 

"Practice season already over?" Baekhyun asked as they passed houses on their way to school. 

"Not really. I just want to make up to you." Heechul looked at Baekhyun with a smile. Baekhyun would have been flattered if he did not know what that smile meant. 

"What is it?" He asked, silently wondering if Heechul is already breaking up with him. It will not be a shock actually. They were almost strangers for the past weeks. The regular texts trickled to two messages at most. The nightly calls became to so late that sometimes, Baekhyun falls asleep waiting for the call. He also became used to waking up early to car pool with Jongdae and Minseok. He's not a morning person so he's usually a grumpy bear in the mornings but he'd rather wake up so early than go to school with Chanyeol.

"Uhm. We'll be going to a training camp next week. We'll stay there for a week and reception apparently is horrible there so I will be out of touch for those days."

"Oh. Okay." Baekhyun felt slightly uncomfortable at that. It's still different when you know you really won't see your boyfriend for a week. No quick glances in school and no waiting for messages or calls. But he can't do anything but support Heechul. "Don't overwork yourself, okay?"

Heechul went silent for a moment before mumbling, "Yeah." They drove in silence after that. There's something in the air that Baekhyun cannot pinpoint so he just let it go.

 

It's just a normal day for the othe students but for those taking Literature classes, it's chaos.

"Has anyone seen the apple?" Junmyeon shouted over the frantic group. He saw Yixing about to take a bite from the apple and quickly snatched it. "This is not food. It's for our props."

"But I'm hungry already." Yixing grumbled.

"Here hyung." Jongin stuck a biscuit at Yixing's mouth which appeased Yixing at the moment. Junmyeon left them while tightly holding the apple lest it anyone try to eat it again.

One group is already performing in the auditorium. Their group will follow after them. He can see Tiffany mulling over a stray curl and asking Yoona to help her fix it again. Last minute touches were being made in the casket and grumpy "dwarfs" were roaming around complaining of the heat. Amidst them all is a very calm Baekhyun, dressed in an adaptation of Snow White's gown - a shiny blue top with red sleeves and yellow pants. On others, it might look weird but somehow Baekhyun pulled it off. They dyed his hair black and the only makeup he wore is an eyeliner and a lip gloss. Chanyeol haven't seen Baekhyun yet but Junmyeon is sure that he'll be shocked once he sees Baekhyun.

"Everyone, get ready. We'll be up in 5 minutes." Yunho said as he entered the room. "Is Chanyeol already here?"

"He's just looking for a parking space. The parking space infront of the school is full because of the visitors mostly families of the performers. Don't worry he's already in costume so he'll be stage ready once he get here." Jongin reported.

Yunho seemed irritated but he can't do anything. "Okay. Just be sure that he'll get here on time." 

"Yes Sir!" Jongin saluted to Yunho which earned him a glare.

 

"Are you nervous?" Minseok asked Baekhyun as he sat next to him.

"Not really. It's just another performance. I'm just thinking of it as just another recital."

Minseok reached out to ruffle Baekhyun's hair before he remembered that they just styled it a while ago so he settled to poking Baekhyun's cheeks. "I forgot how often you have those. Does it ever get  tiresome being the number 1 student in our course?" 

Baekhyun caught Minseok's finger before he drill it through his face. He sometimes forget how strong he is. "Stop it hyung. You're not that far behind me. You know I can't hit those high notes the way you and Jongdae do." 

"Yeah you can't but you don't need those high notes. You can bring everyone to tears whenever you sing ballads." Minseok can dimly hear Jongdae and Yunho shouting for everyone to assemble as they'll be going up on stage in a while. "Go get 'em, Snow White." He punched Baekhyun on his shoulder gently or maybe not too gently as Baekhyun winced.

 

Days of practicing paid off as everything went off without a hitch except for the part when Snow White and the Prince first met. Chanyeol went still for a couple of seconds when he saw Baekhyun. His heart is not ready for how Baekhyun looks. The black hair and the eyeliner accentuated his beauty more. Fortunately, Chanyeol gain his senses before it became too obvious that he missed a couple of beats of his song. Aside from that, everything is perfect.  The setting is amazing, the costumes, the songs, and everyone looks to be having fun.

Finally, it's the much anticipated kissing scene. Chanyeol is singing his lines while looking at the "sleeping" Snow White. He slowly bent down to get his face closer just like they practiced. It crossed Chanyeol's mind to give Baekhyun an actual kiss but before he can put it into action, Baekhyun slapped his hand over his mouth, hitting Chanyeol who fell backwards.

All the cast gathered stopped, unsure of how to proceed. Even Baekhyun seemed to be shocked at what he did. From the corner of his eye he saw Jongdae signaling to just go along with it. Baekhyun sat up, stretched his arms as if just waking up from a deep slumber before smiling adorably at the audience. The audience cooed, already forgetting the blundered kissing scene. Chanyeol, not giving up any opportunity, pulled Baekhyun up into a hug. Baekhyun cannot protest much and the curtain went down amidst the applause of the crowd.

As the curtain closed, Baekhyun pushed against Chanyeol but the giant won't budge."Hey, let go."

"One more minute. I think I like hugging you." Chanyeol murmured against Baekhyun's hair but he was forced to let go as Baekhyun decided to stomp on his foot. While Chanyeol's hopping on one foot, Jongdae went up the stage to pull Baekhyun's ear.

"What happened there? Did your script changed and I was not informed?"

"Sorry." Baekhyun mumbled. "I got scared. It's hard to just lay there and wait and see if that jerk will took advantage of me. It's instinct!" He said while throwing a glare at Chanyeol.

"Hey! I am not planning on kissing you for real." No way will he admit that the truth. 

"Yeaaaah. Riiight." Baekhyun retorted. "And what's with the hug? Are we lovey dovey now?"

Chanyeol wiggled his eyebrows. "We could if you want to."

"Oh. Shut up!" Baekhyun said before storming of the stage.

The rest of the group are already cleaning up the stage for the next group so Chanyeol decided to help along. It's just his luck that his friends are the ones lifting the casket. Based on Sehun's smirk, he's about to say something that will make Chanyeol want to stuff him in the casket.

"Nice one there hyung! I got teary-eyed at the hug."

Yeah. He will definitely stuff Sehun in the casket.


	7. Definitely a lucky day

The day after the competition, it was announced that their group won over the other teams which means all of them will get the highest mark in Literature. To celebrate, Yunho decided to hold a house party this weekend. Everyone is expected to come, including the very reluctant Baekhyun.

"I don't want to go." Baekhyun grumbled as he poked his ramen with his chopsticks. They are currently at the school's cafeteria eating their lunch as Baekhyun has the sudden urge to eat ramen and it's hard to eat it outside.

Jongdae, not one to miss the fun, kept on tugging Baekhyun's sleeve. "You need to go. We'll be going. It will be fun. Yunho said there will be drinks."

"Wah! Let's go Beakhyunnie. Let's drink and celebrate." Minseok who clearly love his drinks chipped in as he much on his favorite mocha bread.

"You know I'm not the type to go to parties. I'd rather stay at home."

"Boriiing. You know what, if you'll come, I'll ask mom if she'll let you borrow that piano concerto CD you've been nagging me about."

Baekhyun perked at that. Jongdae's parents owns the largest music store in their place. Baekhyun has been eyeing that CD for years but it's one of Jongdae's mom's precious items and is clearly not for sale.

"Yey! We're going!" Minseok clapped his hands together excitedly. Most of the times, he really acts as if he's the youngest of them.

"I didn't say yes yet." Baekhyun argued.

Jongdae smirked. "As if you could resist my offer."

His friends really know how to bribe him.

A tray of food was placed in front of Baekhyun. He looked up and saw a familiar face that he hasn't seen for weeks. "Kyungsooooo! When did you came back?" He asked the round-eyed boy.

"I just got back yesterday." Kyungsoo replied as he sat down. The boy is a culinary student who had been friends with them since first year when they met during orientation. He could actually be a music major if he wanted to as he sings well also but he says his first love is cooking. He had been out of town for a couple of weeks for a training program. "I'm sorry I missed your performance. I heard it was amazing."

Minseok and Jongdae laughed at the comment. Baekhyun glared at them. "You did not miss anything special, Kyungie, believe me." Suddenly, he had a bright idea. "Do you want to come with us to the party? We'll be celebrating winning the competition."

"Is it okay if I'll go? I'm not part of the performance."

"Ehh. I think it will be fine. The more, the merrier." Baekhyun replied. "And I doubt if they'll notice you don't belong in our class."

"You just want to be sure that you'll have someone to hang out with in a corner while Jongdae and I will be partying all over the place." Minseok retorted to which Baekhyun stuck out his tongue childishly.

"Better keep your tongue in your mouth or I might bite it." Baekhyun heard someone whisper to his ear, making his heart skip (maybe in fright). He looked at his side and almost kissed Chanyeol whose face is too close to him.

"Yah! What are you doing?" Baekhyun exclaimed as he pushed the giant away.

"Eh. I just missed you." Chanyeol grinned before he started walking towards where his friends are already lining up in the cafeteria. Baekhyun was left looking at Chanyeol's retreating back. Chanyeol seems to be everywhere lately. Is he turning into a stalker now? Baekhyun looked back at their table and saw Kyungsoo's puzzled face.

"I was just gone for a weeks and it looks like a lot already happened. Since when have you started flirting with Chanyeol?" Kyungsoo asked with his signature heart-shaped smile.

Baekhyun threw a balled-up napkin at him. "Shut up. We're not flirting." Jongdae and Minseok couldn't help but laugh.

Minseok suggested to the group. "Why don't we go to the mall after class? Let's buy clothes that we can wear for the party."

"Why do we need to buy new clothes? Can't we wear what we already have? Is there a dress code for the party?" Baekhyun asked as he grumbled to his ramen. He's not really fond of shopping. He owns a lot of shirts and jeans. Does he need more?

"We can wear what we have but you can't wear what you have." Jongdae replied with a smirk. "Don't worry, we'll make you so fabulous, Chanyeol will have his tongue out the moment he sees you."

"That's really not what I want."

 

In the end, Baekhyun went with them to the mall after class. He had no choice, not when even Kyungsoo seemed to be excited to go. They went from shop to shop, looking for the perfect outfit for Baekhyun. Baekhyun doesn't know what they're really looking for. He tried on a lot of clothes but nothing seemed to satisfy his friends’ taste. Even Kyungsoo, who prefers wearing just black clothes, kept on giving his inputs.

"Guys, this is the last one. I swear I won't try on another set of clothes." Baekhyun said as he stepped outside the dressing room. He looked as his friends who had been silent. "What? No comment? No "that's not the color", "the sleeves are too long", "he looks like he's taking his mom to the prom", or "he looks so tiny in that" which by the way, I got offended. I'm the tallest among us."

The three looked at each other before giving him a thumbs up sign. "Finally!" He went back to the dressing room to get out of the clothes. Once he's done, he gave the clothes and some money to Jongdae. "I felt so stressed. I'll go buy some ice cream while you pay. Just text me where to meet you."

"Yah! This is not enough!" Jongdae shouted as he left which he just ignored. They are the ones who want to shop anyway.

Baekhyun went out of the clothes store in search of his favorite ice cream parlor. After a couple of minutes, he found it and ordered his favorite strawberry ice cream. Nothing beats strawberry in his opinion. He decided to roam around a bit while waiting for Jongdae’s message.

He's busy licking his ice cream while scrolling on his phone, checking if he missed any calls or messages from Heechul, when he bumped into someone.

"What the-" he looked up and saw Chanyeol staring at him with his strawberry ice cream now plastered on the giant's shirt. He saw the giant sigh as his once white shirt is now decorated with pink in the middle.

"Shit. I'm so sorry." he tried wiping the ice cream from the shirt with his handkerchief but Chanyeol stopped him, holding his hand.

"Hey. It's okay.” Chanyeol said, still holding his hand.

Baekhyun still feels guilty but the other won't let him do anything about it. "Uhm. You're still holding my hand." He expected another weird remark from Chanyeol but the other is quite behave as of the moment.

"Oh. Sorry." Chanyeol said as he let go of his hand.

Baekhyun, still staring at the pink stain, thrust his handkerchief at the other. "Here take it. Maybe you can still wipe the stain."

Chanyeol accepted the handkerchief with a smile. "Thank you." He looked at the ice cream cone in Baekhyun's hands. "Do you want me to buy you another ice cream? Yours kind of got stuck on my shirt."

Baekhyun laughed. "No, it's okay. It's kinda my fault anyway. I should be the one buying you ice cream to make up for the unplanned design on your shirt."

"Maybe I'll take you up on your offer."

Right then, Baekhyun's phone rang. It's Jongdae who seemed to be looking for him already. "Uhm. Maybe some other time? My friends are looking for me already."

"Okay. I'll hold you to that. See you around." Chanyeol said with a wave as Baekhyun left to look for his friends, thinking to himself how nice Chanyeol is. He should always be that nice. Maybe they'll get close again if he's always like that instead of being a jerk to him. He's also wondering why he kept on seeing Chanyeol these days. Is it a sign or something?

What Baekhyun doesn't know is that hours ago, someone's been eavesdropping on their conversation in the cafeteria.

"Guys, do you want to go to the mall after class?" Chanyeol asked his friends happily much to the chagrin of his friends.

 

Back at home, Chanyeol laid on his bed staring at the handkerchief. He's like a giggly middle school girl who got something from his crush. The handkerchief smells a bit fruity but with a hint of something that makes it not too girly. The scent suits the owner- sweet but not girly.

"Chanyeollie!" he heard his mom shout from downstairs. "Baekhyunnie is here!" Chanyeol almost tripped on his way to the door at his mom's words. He wondered what Baekhyun is doing at his house. He rarely comes nowadays unlike when they were kids.

"Oh! You're still wearing my ice cream." Baekhyun said sheepishly once he saw Chanyeol who had come downstairs.

Chanyeol looked down at his shirt. "Yeah. I just got home a while ago." He said while rubbing his nape.

Baekhyun smiled. "I just want to apologize again and well, here." He said as he thrust a tub of cotton candy flavored ice cream from the same parlor place a while ago. "I know you like that flavor."

Chanyeol brightened as he saw the ice cream. It's really his favorite. He's quite giddy that Baekhyun still remembers it. He reached out for the ice cream, forgetting that he's still clutching the handkerchief from before.

"Is that my hankie?" Baekhyun asked. Chanyeol pulled back his hands and stuffed the hankie to his pants before Baekhyun could take a good look at it.

"No. It's mine."

"Oh well, I'll be going then and sorry again for the shirt."

Chanyeol had been racking his brain for anything to say to make Baekhyun stay longer as the other turned towards the door but his mom beat him to it.

"Baekhyunnie, why don't you stay for dinner?" his mom asked as she got out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron.

"I don't want to impose, Mom."

His mom started to push Baekhyun towards the dining room. "No, I insist. I know Jia and Yohan are quite busy nowadays. I don't want you spending your dinner alone." Baekhyun cannot do anything but go along with her wishes. Chanyeol's been behaving anyway so maybe it won't be awkward.

Chanyeol watched as his mom ushered Baekhyun to the table. It must be his lucky day today, he thought as he followed them.


	8. Let's party

Baekhyun sat on the bar at Yunho's house, glumly watching the writhing bodies on the dance floor. He wasn't really in a party mood but Jongdae and Minseok dragged him to the party. Beside him sat Kyungsoo who's staring wide-eyed at the mass of people. Though not much of a party-goer himself, Kyungsoo seems to be fairing much better than him. The other is wearing more modest clothes than what Baekhyun was forced to wear. His comfortable shirt was swapped with a smooth but thin long sleeved shirt. Baekhyun will freeze to death if he walk outside wearing this. The shirt was black, shiny, and kept on slipping to show his collarbones. He kept on tugging on it a while ago until Jongdae slapped his hand saying that he's ruining the fashion style. He's also wearing tight pants which fortunately is not made from leather. Minseok had been pushing him to buy the leather version back in the shop but he put his foot down. He already gave in on the black leather boots he's currently wearing. Too much leather is a no-no for him. After styling his hair and putting on some makeup, his friends declared him party ready and dragged his ass to Yunho's. By the looks he's been receiving since he arrived, he can say that he's a hit. Chanyeol even choked on his burrito when he saw Baekhyun arrived. Baekhyun found it hilarious when Chanyeol got so red that he need both Sehun and Jongin to thump him in the back. 

But Baekhyun was not interested in any of them. He kept on pulling out his phone every five minutes to check if Heechul messaged him. It's been days since he last got a text from him. He knew the signal in the camp is erratic but on the beginning Heechul can still send a few messages to him.

He's been lost in thought that he got shocked at the cold feeling on his forehead. Looking up, he saw Chanyeol who's pressing a cold beer bottle at his forehead while grinning at him.

"You seem so out of place here." Chanyeol stood beside him and had to lean over to be heard. Ever since the ice cream incident, Chanyeol had been nice to him most of the times. Today seems to be one of the nice moments. 

Baekhyun took the bottle Chanyeol offered. "Well, I really didn't want to go but I sort of got bribed to go."

"What did they bribed you with? A truckload of strawberries?"

Baekhyun laughed. "Nothing that overboard. Just that piano concerto CD of Jongdae's mom."

"Oh! You've been wanting to hear that since forever. I remember you used to drag me to that shop and just stare at it for hours imagining how it sounds. I kept telling you to just download it on the internet but you kept on saying that-"

"It's not the same." Baekhyun finished with a laugh. Chanyeol smiled and they fell into a comfortable silence. As silent as the loud thumping of the bass and cheers of college students on the way to getting drunk are. He counted around 30 persons are gathered in Yunho's home. It's a good thing his home is huge to accomodate them. His parents are currently in abroad for business but Yunho got permission to hold a house party as long as they don't break anything and the pool is offlimits. Chanyeol thought his mom will freak out if he asks her if they can have a house party there. As cool as him mom is, she's not ready to deal with drunk college kids. 

"Isn't that Kyungsoo?" Baekhyun's question snapped Chanyeol from his thoughts. He saw the other pointing at a small kid who's dancing shyly with Jongin.

"Looks like he found Jongin." Jongin is a great dancer and he's not the one to stop until the party ends. Kyungsoo needs to keep up.

"When did he got over there?"

"You're already alone when I came to you."

"Ehh. That kid ditched me?" Baekhyun said in disbelief. "I'm offended and I think I need another beer."

"How many have you drunk?" Chanyeol asked worriedly, knowing Baekhyun is a lightweight when it comes to drinking. 

"Counting the one you gave me, three." Baekhyun said. "Don't worry.I'm still good."

Right then, Sehun came bearing a tray of shotglasses of who knows what. "Hey! Why are you hiding here? We're doing shots!" Sehun said enthusiastically that Chanyeol wondered how many the boy had already drank. 

Sehun lined up the shotglasses on the bar counter. Chanyeol counted ten of them. 

"Let's play a game! Hyung, start on the left side. Baekhyunnie, start on the right. First to finish most of the glasses gets a prize!"

Baekhyun, suddenly feeling competitive, asked. "What's the prize?"

Sehun stopped for a moment. It seems he hasn't thought of it. 

"How about the winner has the power to make the loser do one thing?" Junmyeon who is already clearly intoxicated piped in from the crowd already gathering. "But no kinky shit." he added with a slight wiggle of his eyebrows. Yixing came and dragged Junmyeon away before he starts to embarass himself.

"Are you good with that?" Baekhyun asked him. Chanyeol who have already been deep in thought of what he'll make Baekhyun do, nodded enthusiastically. He'll definitely win this.

"Okay! Let's start the game- in three, two, one, GO!"

Chanyeol kept on picking up glass after glass. He did not lool at Baekhyun to see how many Baekhyun has already drank nor did he really count how many he drank. The taste is starting to get to him but he kept on going on. Finally, he slammed the last glass. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve and looked at Baekhyun who's grinning. Did he lost? He looked back and counted how many glasses are on his side. One..two..three..four..five.....SIX!!

"Well, I guess you won."Baekhyun said.

Chanyeol grinnned. Now what does he want Baekhyun to do. 

The crowd around them already left. Chanyeol saw Sehun dragging Junmyeon away from Yixing and the crowd is laughing hysterically as the pair tries to have a dance battle. Even Yixing was dragged to the battle. Jongin and Kyungsoo are still dancing on the sidelines. He even saw Baekhyun's friends, Jongdae and Minseok munching happily on the fingerfoods on the tables. 

"Dance with me. Just one dance." Chanyeol declared.

Baekhyun looked around. Everyone seems to be busy. Nobody will seem to mind them if they dance together, so he agreed. "Okay. Just one dance."

Chanyeol dragged Baekhyun to the dance floor but far from the chaos of the group. They danced awkwardly at first before bursting into laughters. They just waved their hands to the music and shake their legs but they're clearly having fun. Suddenly the music changed. Baekhyun who is already slightly intoxicated frowned at the change in music. The fast beat was replaced by a love song. He was having fun dancing. Do they need to change the song? Before he could storm over to the one incharge of the music, Chanyeol pulled him into his arms. Baekhyu. Frozed for a moment but Chanyeol's arms are so warm that he just melted into it. They sway to the song- an old love song different from the EDM type of love songs nowadays.

We'll do it all  
Everything  
On our own

We don't need  
Anything  
Or anyone

If I lay here  
If I just lay here  
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

I don't quite know  
How to say  
How I feel

Those three words  
Are said too much  
They're not enough

If I lay here  
If I just lay here  
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

Forget what we're told  
Before we get too old  
Show me a garden that's bursting into life

Let's waste time  
Chasing cars  
Around our heads

I need your grace  
To remind me  
To find my own

If I lay here  
If I just lay here  
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

Forget what we're told  
Before we get too old  
Show me a garden that's bursting into life

All that I am  
All that I ever was  
Is here in your perfect eyes, they're all I can see

I don't know where  
Confused about how as well  
Just know that these things will never change for us at all

If I lay here  
If I just lay here  
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

As the last strumms of the  song played, Chanyeol pulled Baekhyun's face up. Chanyeol took a deep breath. This is it. I'm going to say it. But before he can utter the words, Baekhyun's phone vibrates.

Baekhyun took a step out of Chanyeol's warm embrace. He didn't know what happened but something did happened during that song. He took his phone out and saw that he got a message from Heechul. Feeling slightly guilty, he opened the message and read five words that shook him.

I'm sorry. Let's break up.


	9. Progress

Baekhyun felt as if he's in another dimension. Around him, the crowd's going wild again as the song changed to another fast beat song and there he was, blankly staring at his phone, reading the same text over and over again. Maybe he read it wrong. So he read it again and again until the words seem to blur.

"Hey. What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Chanyeol said as he tugged Baekhyun to avoid the wild dancers from crashing to him. He ushered to silent Baekhyun to a sofa at the corner of the room. Once they sat down, he tried prying the phone from the deathly grip Baekhyun had on it but the other would not let it go. Through the struggle, he caught a glimpse of what's written.

"He broke up with you? He fucking have the nerve to break up with you thru text?" Chanyeol exclaimed. Who does Heechcul think he is? He's letting go of such a wonderful person.

Baekhhyun raised his head and Chanyeol's heart broke at the tears in his eyes. He couldn't even feel happy that Baekhyun is now single as he couldn't bear to see a sad Baekhyun. Chanyeol reached out to gently wipe his tears with his thumb. "Hey. It's alright. He doesn't deserve you. It's his loss."

"I already saw it coming. He's been distant for the past weeks but it still hurts. He didn't even gave me the courtesy of breaking up with me in person. He just sent a fucking message." Baekhyun slouched on the sofa and closed his eyes. Chanyeol could not take it anymore. In times like this, getting drunk is a must. As much as he would like to grab a bottle himself, he couldn't leave Baekhyun alone in this state. He sent a message instead to Yixing to ask him if he could get them some alcohol. Out of all his friends, Yixing might be the only one sober enough to see his message.

Chanyeol looked down at Baekhyun. He's itching to sweep the bangs now covering his eyes but he hesitated, not knowing how the other would react. Suddenly, Baekhyun opened his eyes and Chanyeol's ears got red at being caught staring at the other.

"Why are you staring at me?" Baekhyun asked him. He really want to brush the other's bangs to see his eyes. He slowly extended his hands towards Baekhyun. He can slightly see Baekhyun's brows scrunch together in confusion. After what seemed like forever, his hands brushed the other's hair. He lightly swept the hair away from the other's eyes. Baekhyun's eyes got big at the gesture. Chanyeol thought it's much better than seeing sadness in Baekhyun's eyes.

Baekhyun wondered what Chanyeol's doing. He's confused but he couldn't seem to break his gaze from Chanyeol's. It doesn't feel awkward but he's definitely feeling something weird creep up on his chest. The touch was light. Something you might not expect seeing as how big Chanyeol's hands are. It's making him feel warm somehow.

Someone coughed loudly, "You asked for alcohol?" Baekhyun turned and saw Yixing standing infront of them. Chanyeol pulled back his hand and is now grabbing the bottle of vodka Yixing brought.

"Thanks, hyung. I couldn't leave Baekhyun alone. He might get eaten by the wild wolves here." Chanyeol slightly chuckled as Baekhyun grumbled at the implication of being an easy prey. Yixing, being the perceptive person he was, saw the sadness that still lingers over Baekhyun so he just nodded and left the two after giving Baekhyun a small smile.

Chanyeol opened the bottle cap and took a swig straight from the bottle. He felt the burn in his throat before settling to his stomach. Het thrusht the bottle to Baekhyun's direction

Baekhyun looked at him, slightly horrified. "Really? No glasses? That's like an indirect kiss."

"Eh? You're loss." Chanyeol brought back the bottle to his lips to take another drink but Baekhyun snatched it from him.

"Hey! I'm the dumped person here. I should be the one getting drunk." Although he complained before, Baekhyun also drank directly from the bottle. "Fuck! That burns." he said before handing the bottle to Chanyeol who unknown to him is feeling slightly giddy from the indirect kiss.

They kept on taking turns on drinking with Chanyeol talking about anything he could think of that will take Baekhyun's mind over the breakup. Halfway through the bottle, Chanyeol can already see the vodka affecting Baekhyun. He's really a lightweight when it comes to drinking. He tried grabbing the bottle from Baekhyun but the other won't let go.

"Why are you taking it from me? It's miiiiiine!" Baekhyun slurred while hugging the bottle to his chest. He once again drank from the bottle, ending it with a loud "ah!”

Chanyeol just shook his head. "You're clearly drunk already. Why don't you give me that?"

Baekhyun shook his head. "Nu-uh! Finders keepers, losers weepers!" He took another drink.

"You're too greedy." Chanyeol grumbled as he look at a now definitely drunk Baekyun.

"Eh? But I still don't have it all. Maybe I'm not cut out for love." Baekhyun mumbled while peering at the bottle in his hands as if it held the answers to his questions.

"Or maybe you just haven't love the right person." Chanyeol replied softly.

Baekhyun turned his head to look at him. "You think so? Where is that right person? Can you point him to me?"

Chanyeol closed his eyes, gathering the courage to speak the words that might make or break him. As he opened his mouth, he heard Baekhyun made some weird noises. He opened his eyes and saw Baekhyun looking at him funnily- before he retched on him.

 

"You should have seen yourself. You look so shocked when I threw up." Baekhyun said in between fits of giggle as Chanyeol helped him into the car. The boy retched on him but still have the gall to laugh at his expense. It's a good thing he has an extra shirt on his bag, a habit he got from playing basketball and always needing to have a change of clothes on hand. He left Baekhkyun with Minseok who was heading towards the restroom at that time before he went to his car to change get his shirt and change. Once he got back, he saw Jongdae and Kyungsoo also hovering at Baekhyun who looked to have been cleaned up by his friends. They decided to get Baekhyun home but as Jongdae and Minseok are also drunk and Kyungsoo doesn't know how to drive, they asked Chanyeol if he could take Baekhyun home. Chanyeol already decided to take Baekhyun home but he did not tell Baekhyun's friends so that it will seem as if he'll be doing them a favor. Who knows when he'll need a favor from them also, he thought evilly. Though Chanyeol also drank, he's quite confident that he can drive them home. Besides, he got sobered up once Baekhyun heaved on him and he also resorted to drinking water a while ago once Baekhyun hogged the vodka.

"There, there. Don't fuss too much. You're such a energetic drunk." Chanyeol said as he strapped the seatbelt across Baekhyun. He closed the door and went around to get in the car. Once inside the car, he started the engine and drove home. On their way, he kept on glancing at Baekhyun whose energy seemed to be drained already. His eyes are closed as he laid back on the seat, softly humming under his breath. They are near their neighborhood when the humming stopped and was replaced by puppy noises- the same noises Chanyeol got used to hearing when they would sleep over at each other's houses. It looks like Baekhyun still has that habit which Chanyeol found endearing.

Chanyeol gently parked in front of the Byun's home. It's already 11pm and yet nobody seems to be home. He started to look from Baekhyun's keys on the pockets of those sinfully tight and illegal pants but he stopped when he realized something. He started the car once again, and drove a couple of meters to his own home. He parked in their garage and tried waking up Baekhyun (just in case he was asked tomorrow) but the other is dead asleep so he went out of the car and decided to just carry Baekhyun.

Baekhyun's so light that Chanyeol could carry him without much fuss. He only struggled when he went to open the door for he couldn't set the boy down. Once inside, Chanyeol carried him upstairs towards his room.

 

"It's too bright." Baekhyun grumbled before turning on his right side and patting on the bed for a pillow to cover his eyes. His eyes shot open when he felt a hard body under his palms. "What the-" he exclaimed when his eyes met a seemingly sleeping Chanyeol beside him. He ignored the throbbing on his head and looked around. He's in a not so unfamiliar room. The room is definitely not his but he recognize it as Chanyeol's. The biggest clue? The sleeping giant beside him. He shook the giant to wake him up but was only rewarded with a grunt so he decided to twist those big ears.

"Ouch!" Chanyeol rubbed his ears, glaring at Baekhyun. "What are you doing? It's still so early. Stop fussing."

"Stop fussing?" Baekhyun looked at him. "What am I doing here? Why did you bring me here? My house is just beside yours."

"Well no one seems to be home and I can't find your keys." Chanyeol replied. "Now, can I sleep again?"

Baekhyun was about to slap him when he noticed that he's wearing clothes different from the one he wore the night before. "Who changed my clothes?" He said scandalously while crossing his arms over his body.

"Hey! I closed my eyes." Chanyeol replied with grin, looking every inch like a cat who ate the cream.

"Pervert!" Baekhyun slammed a pillow at Chanyeol over and over.

Chanyeol tried defending himself but failed as he's laughing so hard. He could get used to mornings like this, he thought.

A/N: I'm back! It's a bit longer but not as long as I'm aiming for. -.- Still, hope you like it! Again, it's not proofread so please bear with me for any errors you saw. ;p


	10. Questions

That afternoon, after the almost-pummeling-Chanyeol-to-death-with-a-pillow incident, Baekhyun found himself sprawled face down on the sofa at his home, surrounded by his three friends- two of which seemed to be still hung-over.

"What are you all doing here again?" Baekhyun asked as he turned to face his visitors.

"We're keeping you company just in case you get all weepy from the break up." Minseok mumbled as he slumped on the other sofa. Jongdae's lying on the carpeted floor, looking like hell while Kyungsoo sat beside him, busy with his phone.

"You're really not doing anything." Baekhyun said.

"Hey! Be grateful we're spending our Sunday with you." Jongdae exclaimed with as much energy as he can muster in his state. Baekhyun wondered how many they drank the night before. It seemed like they finished the party which broke out around early morning.

"The only suitable company here is Kyungsoo but he's too busy being lovey-dovey with his phone right now to be much of use."

Kyungsoo looked up from his phone. "Shut up Mr. I-got-cuddly-with-Chanyeol-last-night."

"I was drunk!" Baekhyun defended himself. Actions made under the influence of alcohol are inadmissible in this court. "At least I have a reason for acting like that unlike someone who seemed to have spent majority of his time dancing with a certain someone. And from the looks of it, is exchanging messages with that someone."

"That's a lot of someones for me to understand right now. Please speak as if you're speaking to a child. I can't think above this head ache." Jongdae complained, his voice slightly muffled by the pillow he took from the sofa before lying down on the floor.

"Soo danced with Jongin all night long at the party and seemed to be exchanging messages with him right now." Minseok explained. "See? I'm better than Dae."

Jongdae snorted. "I'm conserving my energy so that I can punch you later."

"Aww. I know you love me so you won't do that." Minseok cooed as he poke Jongdae with his left foot.

"Keep doing that and I might punch you much earlier than planned."

"So back to Kyunsoo," Baekhyun intervened before the two could bitch at each other," what's up with you and Jongin?"

Kyungsoo looked at them with wide eyes. "Why are we talking about me? I thought we’re here to comfort you."

"Pssh. I'm kinda okay really. I guess I was just caught off guard last night. Just expect moments of sadness from me until I get over it."

"Or maybe you're okay because of a certain someone." Minseok added while wagging his eyebrows.

"Here we go again with the someones." Jongdae complained.

"We're talking about Chanyeol. Aish!" Minseok nudged Jongdae with his foot. Jongdae decided to pull said foot and Minseok slid off the sofa and the two started bickering.

Baekhyun decided to ignore the two, more interested in gossip than the bickering couple. "So Soo, you and Jongin, eh?"

Kyungsoo sighed. "We just sort of clicked. I really don't know how it happened but were really not a couple-"

"Yet!" Minseok and Jongdae chorused much to Kyungsoo's frustration.

"Ehh. Stop it all of you. We're still getting to know each other."

"Okay, we'll stop for now. We don't want to jinx Soo's first relationship if ever." Baekhyun teased which got him a pillow to his face courtesy of Kyungsoo.

Right then, the doorbell rang. Baekhyun is not really in the mood to get up so he decided to just let it be. It might be just one of those salespersons that keeps on knocking door to door to sell whatever they're selling. Baekhyun rolled over, deciding to sleep again.

"Baek, someone's at the door." Kyungsoo said. Baekhyun just grumbled and rolled over again. Realizing Baekhyun is not really interested to open the door, Kyungsoo went to the door to see who it was. Checking through the peephole, he saw a grinning Chanyeol right outside the door. "Baek, it's your boyfriend!" Kyungsoo shouted.

Baekhyun sat up suddenly. He doesn't have any boyfriend anymore. Who is Kyungsoo referring to? Could it be-

"Hello! Oh, I didn't realize you have visitors. I just came to bring this over since you left it at home." Chanyeol said as he entered the room, clutching the black jeans Baekhyun was wearing last night.

Baekhyun immediately got up, snatched the pants, shoved Chanyeol out of the house, and shut the door loudly. He could hear snickering behind his back. He sighed. "It's nothing guys." he said as he turned.

"Yeah right." Jongdae replied in a tone you couldn't mistake for anything other than sarcasm. "We're not asking why you left your clothes at Chanyeol's. We'll just assume something did happened last night." he said with a snigger.

"Oh, shut up guys. Nothing happened."

"Maybe we should just ask Chanyeol." Minseok declared.

"Aren't you guys here to cheer me up? Why are you making me miserable?" Baekhyun pouted as he sat down again in the sofa.

Kyungsoo got up to pat Baekhyun on the head. "There, there. Don't cry. Chanyeol might hurt us if we make you cry."

"I hate you guys."

 

Baekhyun was really okay during the weekend but when Monday rolled, he's dreading to go to school. He doesn't know who else knows about the breakup. Heechul has a lot of friends at school, maybe they already talked with him. Baekhyun doesn't really want to be pitied or to be the center of gossip. He sat there on his bed, contemplating what to do. He had already dressed up for school. All that's left to do is to leave. Maybe he'll just pretend to be sick today. He was contemplating on how long he can use that excuse before his friends drag his butt to school when a short knock cut Baekhyun's thoughts. "Hyunnie, Chanyeollie is here." his mother said as she opened the door to Baekhyun's room.

"Why is he here?" Baekhyun asked. His mom just shrugged before stepping out of the room once again after picking up some of the dirty clothes in his room. It seemed that his mom will be staying home today. Tax filing must have been finished already, he thought as he decided to go down to see what Chanyeol's up to.

Downstairs, he was greeted by the sight of Chanyeol sitting on their living room chatting with Baekhyun's dad. The two seemed to be having a good time talking about sports something that Baekhyun really doesn't have any interest in much to his dad's disappointment. His dad was actually the one who taught Chanyeol about basketball. With his son more interested in music than sports, he turned to his son's playmate who showed potential in the sport and he was not mistaken as Chanyeol is now one of the lead players in their school's basketball varsity team. Being 6'1'' also sure doesn't hurt him.

Chanyeol smiled brightly at him once he saw him. "What are you doing here?" Baekhyun asked him.

"I'll give you a ride to school." Chanyeol answered.

"Why? I carpool with Jongdae."

Chanyeol gave him a puzzled look. "Eh? But they're already at school. I saw them post it on their SNS story."

"What?" Baekhyun immediately took out his phone and check his SNS and there it was on Minseok's account- a selfie taken by Minseok with the caption "see you at school BH!" and a series of emoticons that didn't made Baekhyun feel any better. "Daddy could you just take me to school?" Baekhyun asked his dad with a pout.

"Why? Chanyeollie here can take you. Why not go with him?" His dad asked in confusion.

"But I don't want to."

"This is why you should have listened to me when I told you to learn how to drive. You can take the other car if you just know how to. We finally caught a break at work and I'm planning on just lounging here at home all day long. So no, I won’t take you."

At those words, Baekhyun knew he had no other choice but to go with Chanyeol if he will go to school. Not going is no longer an option as his parents already saw him and they will not believe him anymore if he will tell them that he's not feeling well. "Fine. I'll just grab my things." He mumbled before going back upstairs.

Looking at his son’s retreating back, Jinhoo winked at Chanyeol. “Take care of him.”

“You did not need to worry about that, Daddy.” Chanyeol replied solemnly.

 

Baekyun was still pouting when they parked in school but Chanyeol found it so adorable that he couldn't feel bad. "We're here." he said as he stopped the engine. Baekhyun's about to get out of the car when Chanyeol grabbed his arm.

"What is it?" Baekhyun asked.

Chanyeol just smiled and suddenly grabbed his nose. "Stop pouting. I might kiss you."

"Stop teasing me. I just started to be nice at you." Baekhyun grumbled as he swiped Chanyeol’s hand away.

"But you're so cute. I can't help it." Chanyeol teased which got him a smack on the head.

Once they got out of the car, Baekhyun can feel a lot of eyes staring at him. Do they know what happened? He's starting to feel uncomfortable at being the center of attraction when he felt an arm go around his shoulders. He looked up and saw Chanyeol smiling at him.

"Hey. I'm here. Don't mind them." Chanyeol whispered to him before he ushered him towards the building. Unknown to him, Chanyeol kept on throwing glares at everyone who so much as looked at Baekhyun wrongly. Baekhyun thought they pity him but Chanyeol knew that most of them are thinking of the same thing - Baekhyun's free to date again. Chanyeol decided to start staking his claim this early. Even if the other party is so oblivious that maybe even if he spell it a hundred times the other would not believe it, Chanyeol just want to be sure that there's no competition.

By the start of first period, the news of Baekhyun and Heechul breaking up was replaced by something juicier - the possibility of Baekhyun and Chanyeol dating.

 

“What’s wrong with these people?” Baekhyun complained to his friends as he slumped over his desk while they wait for the next teacher.

“Why? The truth will set you free.” Jongdae replied while casually scrolling on his phone.

Baekhyun threw an eraser at Jongdae’s face at those words. “The truth is we’re not dating. We’re just starting to be friends again. Let’s not complicate things.”

“But don’t you find him attractive at least?” Minseok asked as he sat on Baekhyun’s table.

Baekhyun feigned vomiting. “Please. I knew him way back since we were kids. I saw him eat dirt too many times back then and mind you, it’s very off-putting. I’m not even slightly attracted to him.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“We don’t believe you.”

“Why do you keep asking me question if you don’t accept my answers?” Baekhyun said in frustration.

“Because, my adorable little brother, most of the times you’re too oblivious for your own good.” Minseok explained as he gave Baekhyun a patronizing pat on the head that didn’t make Baekhyun feel any better.

“Aish. Are we even talking about this? If you ask Chanyeol, he’ll definitely tell you also that he’s not attracted to me. So all these talks and gossips are completely pointless.” Baekhyun said with conviction. Jongdae and Minseok just looked at each other before breaking into fits of laughter. Baekhyun slapped at them irritatingly to make them stop but they just kept on laughing until finally their next teacher came into the room.

Baekhyun sat quietly wondering what he said that drove his friends into fits of laughter. Minseok laughed so hard that there were tears in his eyes while Jongdae almost turned red from laughing too much.

Does Chanyeol like him? He mused for a moment.

 

 

Nah. It’s so impossible, he thought.


	11. When it rains, it pours

“Forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty.” Chanyeol huffed as he collapsed to the gym floor. It’s after class and the basketball team is in the middle of training. After ten laps around the court, fifty crunches, and fifty push-ups, Chanyeol’s body is already screaming to rest. He rolled to his back and came face-to-face with their coach.

“Tired already, Park?” his coach asked.

Chanyeol sat up immediately. “Just catching my breath, Coach.”

“Be sure to get in shape, Park. We have a game next week. We don’t need a starter player catching his breath in the middle of the game.” Coach sternly said to him. He went on and on about how important next game is and a lot of stuff that Chanyeol started to tune off when he saw Baekhyun coming down from the stands. Around him, he saw his teammates nudging each other and pointing at Baekhyun. Chanyeol sighed. Baekhyun is even popular with his teammates. Chanyeol itched to go to Baekhyun but Coach seemed to be not yet done with his speech. When Chanyeol saw Kibum start to approach Baekhyun, Chanyeol not so gently excused himself from his coach and jogged towards the stands.

“Hi Baekhyun! Did you come to see me?” Chanyeol heard Kibum asked not so quietly while flashing his self-proclaimed sexy grin. His other teammates, being encouraged by Kibum’s actions, started crowding Baekhyun and tried getting his attention. Chanyeol can see Baekhyun getting uneasy at the attention so he started to push his teammates away when he reached them.

“Back-off guys. This one’s mine.” Chanyeol declared while pulling Baekhyun in his arms.

“Can’t you share, Park?” Onew asked.

“Not this one.”Chanyeol replied as he push Baekhyun towards a corner, far away from his vulture team mates.

Once away from the team, Baekhyun started to squirm from Chanyeol’s arms. “Let me go, Yeollie. I’m fine already.”

Chanyeol pinched Baekhyun’s cheeks but did not let him go yet. “Did you just call me Yeollie? I haven’t heard you call me that for years. I like it.”

Baekhyun got red at those words. “It just slipped from my tongue, jerk.”

“Eh? I like Yeollie better. Call me Yeollie again.” Chanyeol urged Baekhyun while ruffling the other’s hair.

“Yah! Stop that.”Baekhyun squirmed some more in Chanyeol’s arms. “Let me go already. Your friends might get weird thoughts.”

“Just let them be.” Chanyeol replied, having no intention of letting Baekhyun go. It’s better for his teammates to know this early that Baekhyun’s off-limits to them. Suddenly, Baekhyun bit Chanyeol’s arm, forcing Chanyeol to let him go. “Why did you bit me?”

“Serves you right.” Baekhyun grumbled as he comb his hands thru his hair, trying to fix it.

Chanyeol rubbed the part where Baekhyun bit him. He can clearly see the other’s teeth marks. “You should have outgrown that biting habit of yours.”Chanyeol pouted.

“I already outgrew it. You just forced it back.” Baekhyun said proudly.

“Ooh. I must be special then.”Chanyeol said with a wink.

“Shut up.”Baekhyun gave Chanyeol the paper bag he’s holding. “Mom asked me to give it to you this morning. I wasn’t able to give it to you the whole day. She said you forgot it at home.”

“And here I thought you just missed me.”Chanyeol muttered as he opened the bag and saw the extra shirt he took out this morning. “Thanks for bringing this anyway.”

“No problem.” Baekhyun replied. “Are you busy with practice?”

“Yup. We have a game next week and coach is trying to kill us before the game.” Chanyeol complained.

Baekhyun snickered. “Better not let your coach hear you. He might punish you like those.” He said as he pointed at a group of his teammates who have been running laps since a while ago.

“Do you want to watch the game? I can reserve you front row seats.” Chanyeol asked, wincing inwardly when he heard how eager he sounds. Baekhyun did not seem to notice however, Chanyeol observed with a sigh.

“You know, I’m not really into sports. Why not give it to your flock of girls?”

Chanyeol tried to decipher if there is any hint of jealousy in Baekhyun’s tone but it’s Baekhyun so he really didn’t want to get his hopes up. “What flock?”

“Those that usually follow you around and cling in your arms.”

“Eh? That’s old news. I’m a changed man.”

“Really? What brought out the change?”

“You.” Chanyeol replied.

Baekhyun, who had been watching the running players, looked at Chanyeol at those words. Silence ensued. After a couple of seconds, Baekhyun let out a short laugh to break the silence. “Stop messing with me, Yeollie. Your teammates are not bothering me anymore.”

Chanyeol was about to open his mouth when Coach shouted for him to get back in the court. Having no other choice, Chanyeol ruffled Baekhyun’s hair as he walked passed him.

“Take care going home, Hyunnie. It looks like it’s going to rain.”

Baekhyun, relieved at the change of topic, stuck his tongue out at the other. “I’m already a grown-up, Yeollie. I won’t get sick from a bit of rain.”

Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun from head to toe and back again. “You didn’t seem to grow since highschool.”

“Shut up! Not everyone is a giant like you.” Baekhyun said as he pushed Chanyeol away.

Chanyeol walked away laughing, half-frustrated at their prior conversation. Maybe Baekhyun is not yet ready to realize Chanyeol’s feelings for him but Chanyeol won’t stop until the other realize it himself. Baekhyun needs to realize it on his own. He won’t believe it otherwise.

 

Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol’s retreating back. It’s a good thing the coach called Chanyeol over. He doesn’t understand why Chanyeol replied that way to his question. Is he flirting with him? But why would he? Is it because of his teammates? But his teammates are far from them.

“These questions are giving me a headache.” Baekhyun mumbled as he shook his head, trying to shake those thoughts away. They have just repaired their relationship. It’s still a bit awkward in some areas but he’s glad that he somehow got his best friend back. Maybe someday, they’ll be completely back to how they once were.

A group of girls entered the gym as Baekhyun headed to the exit. They must have come to see Chanyeol practice. Being one of the star players of their varsity team really made Chanyeol popular, especially to girls. Though Chanyeol plays for both teams (he used to see Chanyeol with both sexes), Chanyeol’s fan girls are way over the top. They’re the type to scratch your eyes out if you get between them and Chanyeol and they’re definitely not friendly with Baekhyun as soon as that gossip of them dating started.

“I’m not kidding. He really flirted with me.” Baekhyun heard Tiffany say as the group came towards him.

“Yeah, right. In your dreams, Tiff. Don’t feel so special. He also did that to me.” Hyuna replied.

They saw Baekhyun walking and stopped in front of him. Baekhyun sighed. He’s not in a mood to deal with them. It looks like it really will start raining. He should get home before it pours.

“What are you doing here?” Tiffany asked him.

“Are you bugging Chanyeol?”

“No, I’m not. I just came to give him something from his mom.”

“Don’t get any weird ideas with Chanyeol, Baekhyun. You can have anyone you want but definitely not our Channie.” Sunmi said with a glare.

Baekhyun sighed again. “He’s all yours. I don’t care. I’ll go now.” He said as he stepped to the side and continued walking. The girls did not try to stop him which is a blessing. He really did not want to deal with them. Baekhyun pity whoever Chanyeol would date next. It appears that Chanyeol is in between relationships right now. Whoever he chose next would have a huge headache from those girls.

It’s a good thing Baekhyun’s safe.

Chanyeol is not interested in him.

He’s just messing with him. Right?

Or maybe he should ask for someone else’s opinion. He’s not good at these kind of things.

Aish. Why is he thinking of these stuffs? Maybe Chanyeol did not mean anything with his words. Maybe he meant that he doesn’t have any chance to date around right now because of the rumor about them dating.

Yeah. That sounds right.

A loud boom of thunder sounded, breaking Baekhyun’s thoughts. The rain started to pour and he started running as fast as he could towards the parking lot where his friends are waiting for him. However, the gym is a five minute run from the parking lot and by the time he reached the parking lot, he’s already soaking wet. He got inside the car with Jongdae berating him for getting his car wet and Minseok giving him his jacket and scolding him for not calling them to pick him up.

By the time they dropped Baekhyun at home, Baekhyun is already sniffling.

I hate the rain, he thought.

 

A/N: Not proofread as usual. ;p


	12. Maybe a kiss will make it better

"Are you sure you should be going to school?" Chanyeol asked in worry as he took on Baekhyun's appearance. The other looked pale, with bags under his eyes, and wearing a face mask. 

"I'm just a bit sick." Baekhyun mumbled behind the mask. "I have an exam this morning and I couldn't miss it." He followed his words with a hacking cough that made Chanyeol worry more.

He gently ushered Baekhyun to his car before he went around the driver's seat to drive. He's taking Baekhyun to school with him as Jongdae still seemed to be a bit peeved at his wrecked seats.

"Are you taking medicines? This is why I told you to be careful yesterday. You know how easily you get sick."

"Yup. I already took some, Mom." 

"Hey! I'm just worried."

"Why?"

"Because I do."

"That doesn't really answered the question."

"Would you believe if I say I really care about you?"

"You're a jerk though for the past years."

"I know. I'm really sorry. Can we start over again?" Chanyeol asked. He could feel his heart thumping loudly as he wait for Baekhyun's answer.

Baekhyun stayed silent for a while and Chanyeol was about to give up on the conversation when Baekhyun softly mumbled, "Okay."

Elated at the progress, Chanyeol drove to school in a great mood. 

 

"You look like a walking virus." Jongdae exclaimed as Baekhyun entered the classroom. He head over to his seat and slumped on the table.

"I feel like shit."

"You look like shit." Jongdae declared.

Minseok looked at Baekhyun worriedly. "Are you sure you should be here?"

"You sound like Chanyeol when he saw me a while ago."

Jongdae grinned upon hearing Chanyeol's name. "Ooh. So he took you to school again?" 

Baekhyun glared at Jongdae's teasing tone. "Yeah. Because someone went to school this morning without me."

"It's not my idea." Minseok defended himself before Baekhyun could pout at him. He doesn't want to deal with a sulky Baekhyun. A sulky Baekhyun can hold a grudge.

Jongdae, completely unfazed, crossed his arms and glared back at Baekhyun. "My back seat is still stained because of you."

"I'm sick. Is your seat important than me?" Baekhyun retorted.

Jongdae acted as he's thinking it over which end up with Baekhyun throwing his eraser at Jongdae. He caught it and tossed it back to Baekhyun who was not able to dodge as he's really not feeling good.

"Maybe I should really just stayed at home." Baekhyun grumbled as he rubbed the spot where the eraser hit him.

"Why did you come?" Minseok asked.

"I don't want to miss the exam today."

"What exam? We don't have any." 

"Uhm, the one in Composition?" 

Minseok and Jongdae looked at each other. "What are you talking about? We don't have any exam today. It's moved next week."

Baekhyun sat up straight which made him more dizzy. "What? When did we resched?"

"Aren't you listening last week when our teacher said she'll be out of town this week so she moved the exam?" Minseok asked to which Jongdae answered, "Obviously"

Baekhyun slumped again. "Now, I"m really feeling sick. Can you take me home, Dae?" Baekhyun asked as he looked at Jongdae with puppy eyes.

"Why not ask your boyfriend?" Jongdae teased.

"Chanyeol's not my boyfriend!"

"Ooh. I didn't say any names."

"Jerk."

 

Baekhyun made it to third period before he really felt as if he'll pass out any minute now. He stood up to excuse himself to go to the clinic.

"We'll go with you." Minseok volunteered.

"No, it's fine. It's just a couple of rooms down. I just need to lie down a bit."

"You're really looking pale." Jongdae commented worriedly.

"I'm not yet dying, you two. Just visit me after class." Baekhyun said as he walked a bit sluggishly out of the room.

The clinic is just down the hall but for a sick Baekhyun, it seemed to be too far but he's slowly making progress. Suddenly, someone bumped into him. He almost fell but that someone grabbed him just in time. He looked up and saw someone he haven't seen for days- Heechul.

"Oh. Hey." Heechul greeted as he scratched the side of his head. He helped Baekhyun upright and noticed how sick he look. "Are you going to the clinic? Let me help you."

Baekhyun just stared at Heechul. There standing infront of him is someone who by everyone's standards should be hated and avoided. But oddly enough, Baekhyun is really okay with Heechul but Heechul seemed to took his silence as anger.

"I'm really sorry. I know I was a jerk. I'm really not proud of myself right now. I was too scared to face you, to tell it to you personally. I'm sorry. I hope someday you'll forgive me." Heechul said as he looked intently at Baekhyun's face.

"Is there someone else?" Baekhyun couldn't help but ask.

Heechul lowered his gaze. "Yes. We met in class."

"Oh."

"I'm really sorry. I really tried to stop it but it got too hard to stop falling in love."

"Was I not enough?"

Heechul grabbed his arms. "No! It's not that. It's me. No matter how cliché it sounds."

"Uhm. Okay." 

"Okay?" Heechul asked with a puzzled expression.

Baekhyun tapped Heechul's face. "We're good." Baekhyun smiled.

Heechul sighed. "You know, you're really too good for me." Baekhyun laughed at those words. "I'll help you to the clinic."

They had just taken a couple of steps when Baekhyun suddenly stumbled and Heechul was left holding a passed out Baekhyun. He started to carry Baekhyun in his arms when he got pulled back by a very angry-looking Chanyeol.

"What did you do to him?" Chanyeol asked as he grabbed Baekhyun from Heechul who gave him up without a protest.

"I'm helping him go to the clinic when he suddenly passed out." Heechul explained.

"Why don't you go away? You hurt him then you have the audacity to just approach him as if nothing happened? I admire your guts as much as I want to punch you in the face. You're not there when he cried. I was there to comfort him. You don't deserve him!" Chanyeol said in a burst of anger, remembering Baekhyun that night. No matter how much Baekhyun tried to pass it off as nothing afterwards, Chanyeol could not forget how tightly Baekhyun gripped his phone as he read that damn text and how he looked so lost.

Heechul just stared at him. "Does he know?"

"Does he know what?"

"That you love him?"

Chanyeol turned a bit red and sighed. "It's Baekhyun. What do you think?"

Heechul laughed a bit. "Yeah. Good luck man. Don't give up. He's worth it. I'm just not right for him." he said as he patted Chanyeol at the shoulders before he strode off.

Chanyeol looked at his departing back before moving his gaze to the beauty in his arms. Baekhyun's eyebrows were scrunched together and he's really looking pale. Chanyeol touched his forehead, after much maneuvering, to Baekhyun's and felt the high temperature. Just as he raised his head, Baekhyun opened his eyes.

"Yeollie?" Baekhyun asked groggily.

"Hey, I'm here." Chanyeol said softly as he started to walk towards the clinic, carrying his precious cargo.

"I'm not feeling good." Baekhyun whispered before pouting.

"I know but I'm here. I'll take care of you."

Baekhyun snuggled deep in Chanyeol's arms. "I missed you. Don't leave me again."

Chanyeol's heart skipped a beat. "I missed you too. I'll never leave you again." he replied as he kissed Baekhyun lightly on the lips. "I love you."

Chanyeol waited for any reaction but he only got soft snores from Baekhyun.


	13. He said yes!

Baekhyun snuggled closer to his pillow, seeking warmth. His body aches and he's so cold though he's feeling slightly better than when he woke up this morning. He rubbed his face on his pillow before he realized that his pillow is hard. He opened his eyes with a start and though it's dark, his clock reads 2AM, and he can clearly see that what he thought of as a pillow was actually Chanyeol sleeping soundly beside him. He tried to move away but the arm under him (why didn't he notice immediately that he's basically sleeping in Chanyeol's arms?), tightened and he was squashed more by Chanyeol's side. Baekhyun struggled to turn his head to the side to avoid being suffocated. After finding room to breathe, Baekhyun gazed up towards Chanyeol's face and found the other sleeping soundly, his steady breaths giving Baekhyun comfort that Baekhyun's eyes started to droop until Baekhyun slowly fell asleep.

In the silence of the night, Chanyeol opened his eyes once he felt Baekhyun went back to sleep. He stared at the boy currently plastered on his side and tightened his arms more around him. He kissed the top of Baekhyun's head before he settled back to sleep.

 

Baekhyun woke up once again to someone gently pushing back his bangs and touching his forehead as if to check his temperature. He bleary opened his eyes and saw his mom hovering.

"Hi sweetie. Are you feeling okay now?"

"I'm feeling much better than yesterday." Baekhyun croaked. His throat sound hoarse but the itchy feeling yesterday was gone now.

His mom smiled at him. "Chanyeol texted me yesterday that you're sick but I can't go home right away. He said he'll take care of you until I get home. It's a good thing your fever already went down. It looks like all you need is Chanyeol." She said in a teasing tone and Baekhyun became aware that he's still in Chanyeol's arms. He tried moving away again but the other just hugged him more, much to Baekhyun's embarrassment. "I cooked some porridge. Wake up Chanyeol in a bit and go downstairs to eat. Just stay at home to rest today, okay?" His mom leaned to kiss Baekhyun's forehead before leaving the room.

Baekhyun tapped Chanyeol to wake him up. He needed to pee but the other won't let him go. Frustrated, Baekhyun pushed Chanyeol with all his strength. Chanyeol just grumbled and rolled over pinning Baekhyun under him, resting his chin on top of Baekhyun's head. Baekhyun laid there, staring at the ceiling, not knowing what to do. The warmth from Chanyeol's body is comforting but after a couple of seconds, he's starting to breathe difficultly under Chanyeol's weight.

"Yeollie, I can't breathe." Baekhyun tapped Chanyeol with his free arm.

Oddly enough, that seemed to wake Chanyeol up. Chanyeol moved and Baekhyun felt something (did Chanyeol kissed his head?) before the other mumbled, "Good Morning."

"You can move a bit. Kind of being crushed here." Baekhyun said thru gritted teeth. Chanyeol shifted to the side but kept his arms around Baekhyun. "Hey, big baby, why are you still such a cuddler? It's kind of awkward at our age."

"But you’re so soft and warm." Chanyeol reasoned, still not letting Baekhyun go.

Baekhyun pushed him. "Let go. I really need to pee." Chanyeol reluctantly let Baekhyun go and Baekhyun rushed to the restroom as soon as he stood up from the bed.

Chanyeol stared at the closed door for a while before rolling to Baekhyun's side of the bed, reveling in the warmth lingering there. He did not know that he fell asleep until Baekhyun was shaking him awake.

"Go wash up first. Mom cooked breakfast for us." Baekhyun said once Chanyeol opened his eyes. Chanyeol sat up, still looking sleepy which Baekhyun found cute. Baekhyun can't help it so he leaned down and lightly pecked Chanyeol on his right cheek. "Thank you for taking care of me," he said before he turned to leave for downstairs.

Chanyeol was left touching the part Baekhyun kissed. He barely felt the kiss but his heart was so full. It's a good thing Baekhyun is feeling better now. He was almost in panic yesterday when he rushed Baekhyun to the clinic. The school doctor gave Baekhyun the medicines and advised Chanyeol on what to do. Chanyeol drove Baekhyun home after texting Baek's mom about the situation. Unfortunately, Jia is in the middle of a very important work that she couldn't leave, same with her husband, so he told them that he'll take care of Baekhyun for the meantime. He was planning on going home that night but Baekhyun's fever still hasn't gone down when night came so he stayed the night over, coming home to his own house just to change clothes and inform his mother of the situation. His mom volunteered to look after Baekhyun but Chanyeol insisted that he could do it and he'll just call when there's a problem. It's almost past midnight when Baekhyun's fever broke and Chanyeol was able to breathe a sigh of relief. Without thinking much about it, he climbed to bed with Baekhyun and fell asleep beside him.

After a couple of minutes, Chanyeol strode to the Byun's kitchen to see Baekhyun and Jia sitting at the table. Jia is fussing over Baekhyun who doesn't seem to mind it. Jia's rarely there to fuss over Baekhyun as she's always busy at work but whenever she has time, she really makes up for it. Baekhyun, on the other hand, doesn't hold any grudges towards his parents. He understands that they work so that he can have a better life.

"Good morning, Mommy." Chanyeol greeted as he sat beside Baekhyun, in front of the bowl of steaming porridge set on the table. He grabbed the spoon and started eating, making appreciative noises as he ate.

"Good morning, sweetie. Thank you for taking care of our Baekhyunnie last night." She smiled at him adoringly. "I really tried to get home as fast as I can but I got buried under work. It's a good thing you're here for him so I didn't worry that much. You're both sleeping when we got home, looking so adorable cuddling. Do you have something to tell us? Did Eunju knew before me?" She finished with a pout that looks a lot like Baekhyun's. He can clearly see where Baekhyun got his charming and adorable traits.

"Mommy, there's nothing to tell!" Baekhyun protested. "He's just a cuddler as always."

Jia laughed. "Oh, well. I remembered back then how you always cuddle together especially when you're kids. Once Chanyeol got taller than you, he would like to cart you around like a toy he would like to put in his pocket."

Chanyeol smiled, remembering how he acted when they were young. "You're son is so cute that I want to show him off to everyone and take home with me but you won't let me."

"I told you can't have him for yourself. You should marry him first. He's my only son." Jia said with a wag of a finger, trying her best to hide her laughter.

"Hello? I'm still here. I can hear you talking about me. Can we talk about something else? This is embarrassing me." Baekhyun grumbled while swirling his porridge with a spoon. Chanyeol and Jia just laughed but decided to change the topic lest they be subject to one of Baekhyun's tantrums. Chanyeol just sat there, enjoying the wonderful morning, not even thinking about the classes he missed since yesterday. He's not in the mood to go to school anyway. He'd rather stay here with Baekhyun.

Chanyeol was washing the dishes beside Baekhyun after they ate and Jia went upstairs to get more sleep when he decided to ask what he wanted to ask since he woke up. "Baek, do you want to watch our game next week?"

Baekhyun pouted his lips while scrubbing the bowl Chanyeol handed over. "Ehh. I thought I already said no last time."

"No. You just said you're not interested in sports."

"But I am really not. Why spend my time watching a sport I don't understand?" Baekhyun placed the bowl in the dish rack before turning to Chanyeol to get the other bowl only to find a sulky Chanyeol staring at him. "Fine. Yes, I'll go. Only because I owe you for taking care of me."

Chanyeol immediately brightened at his words. "Great. I'll reserve the front rows for you and your friends." He passed the bowl he's holding to Baekhyun and stared at Baekhyun. "And well, you don't owe me anything. I enjoy taking care of you. I can't bear to see you sick. I almost felt helpless when I carried your unconcious body to the clinic. It made me wish I am a med student or a nurse so that I atleast know what to do. So please, take care of yourself next time. I don't want to go thru that again. You matter to me more than you think."

Baekhyun blushed under the heat of Chanyeol's stare and can only mumble a soft, "Okay" before turning back to the drying the dishes.

Chanyeol stared at the other who seemed intent to scrub the dishes thin. He wondered if Baekhyun understood it now, even if a little bit. He sincerely wished he did but if not, he's willing to patiently wait. Baekhyun's worth the wait.


	14. The Game

“Excuse me. Excuse me.” Jongdae kept on muttering as they made their way thru the crowd towards their seats. It’s game day and as promised, Baekhyun went to watch the game. He dragged Jongdae and Minseok along but the two seemed to be much more enthusiastic about it than him. He also invited Kyungsoo but the latter said he’ll wait for Jongin to finish with dance practice so they can watch it together. As much as Baekhyun would like to tease Kyungsoo about him and Jongin, he really like his life so he decided to not tease Kyungsoo.

“Are we really seating in front?” Minseok asked as he stuff his mouth with the popcorn he’s cradling to his chest. They bought a large one to be shared but Minseok kept on eating it so it looked like they’ll buy another one later. Jongdae’s carrying the large finger foam given to him by someone outside the stadium and he’s using it to wade thru the crowd. It looks like everyone is out here to watch the game.

Finally, they arrive at their designated seats. He can see others on their section who he assume are relatives of the players. Mrs. Park and Yoora are even on the far end but they did not see him. They took their seats and watch as the players do their warm-ups.

“Kyaaaa!” the girls screamed as Chanyeol shot a three-pointer. He jogged heading towards the back of the line after making the shot and waved at the girls who were screaming his name in ear-deafening decibels. Chanyeol saw Baekhyun by the front row so he stopped infront of him and gave him a mock salute. Baekhyun glowered at him making Chanyeol laugh. He winked at Baekhyun before continuing towards the line.

“Ooh.” Jongdae teased. “So, we got front row seats courtesy of Mr. Park and he even singled you out from the crowd. Are you keeping something from us?”

Thoughts of Chanyeol cuddling him in bed popped out in his thoughts making Baekhyun feel embarrassed all of a sudden. Jongdae, seeing Baekhyun turned red, teased him much more, earning a smack on the head from Minseok who’s seating between them and was being squashed by Jongdae who’s trying to reach Baekhyun.

Jongdae, however, is not the only one who noticed the spectacle Chanyeol did. Who would missed it when the the star player singled out someone from the crowd and that someone is Baekhyun. Baekhyun can feel the stares and glares from Chanyeol’s personal cheering squad. “If looks can kill, you’ll already be a cold body now.” Minseok remarked as he munched on the popcorn. Baekhyun silently agreed as he grabbed a handful of the popcorn. Chanyeol knew how much he hated being put on the spotlight and he just had to do that to him. Now, what to do to get back at him? he thought.

Warm-up ended and the players made their way back to their bench to rest for a couple of minutes. As Chanyeol started to walk towards them, Baekhyun realized that they're actually sitting behind the players' bench. His teammates headed towards the water jug but Chanyeol strode towards the barricade, smiling brightly at Baekhyun.

"You came." Chanyeol leaned enough to rest his arms on the barricade and resting his chin atop them.

Baekhyun glowered at him. "Stop singling me out. Your fangirls are about to go crazy on me." 

Chanyeol looked around and caught a few glares given at Baekhyun before said glares turn into sweet ones once the girls realized he's looking at them. A couple waved at him enthusiastically and Chanyeol just nodded at them, kinda irked that they're trying to mess with Baekhyun. "Are they giving you any trouble before?" he said with a frown.

Baekhyun threw a piece of popcorn at him. "I'm a grown up. I'm capable of handling it. I already told them there's nothing between us." 

From the corner of Chanyeol's eye, he can see Jongdae shaking in silent laughter and Minseok shushing him. Great, Chanyeol thought, even Baekhyun's friends know about how he feels. Why is it that Baekhyun is still oblivious. A sudden blast of cold air from the nearby air cooler startled Chanyeol and gave him an idea. “Aren’t you feeling cold?” he asked Baekhyun.

Baekhyun gave him a puzzled look. He even looked down to check what he's wearing. “No. Why?”

“Nothing. Thought you might want to wear my jersey jacket.” Chanyeol tried to sound nonchalant as he tried handing his jacket to Baekhyun. Baekhyun stared at it in confusion.

“Why would I? I already said I'm not cold.”

“Why won’t you?”

Chanyeol’s teammates overheard the conversation and decided to pitch in. “Why would he want to wear yours, Park? They’re smelly. Wear mine instead Baekyun.”

Baekhyun crinkled his nose at them. “Why would I want to wear your clothes? I’m fine with mine.” he answered making the rest of the team laugh as they drag Chanyeol away for the huddle.

"What’s the obsession with the jersey jacket?” Baekhyun asked as he turned to his friends. Chanyeol's jacket was left hanging on the barricade.

Jongdae spluttered. Minseok shook his head and patted Baekhyun's head. “I really don’t know if I should call you naïve or what. I seriously pity Park now.”

Baekhyun smacked Minseok’s hand away. “Or you can just explain it to me.”

“Haven't you seen plenty of this in movies? Varsity players let their girl friends or in your case, boyfriends, wear their jersey jackets as a sign of commitment or in case of someone courting another, they want their special someone to wear it and cheer for them."

Baekhyun choked on his popcorn. It took a couple of thumps to dislodge it and all along, Jongdae was laughing his ass off. “B-but we’re not in a relationship. We’re not even in a courtship.” Baekhyun spluttered when he can finally speak. “Stop putting stupid and weird ideas in my head. It’ll make things awkward between me and Chanyeol. There's nothing between us. Another thing, that sounds too cheesy. It's giving me creeps. Surely Chanyeol's not thinking about that when he offered me his.”

“That’s what he said.” Jongdae said in a sing-song tone, further irritating Baekhyun. Before he could grab Jongdae by the ear and drag him outside, the whistle sounded and the players broke off from their huddle. The announcer started calling the players from the other team one by one. Each player's name was met by loud cheers from the other side of the gym. 

A hand shot out from behind Baekhyun and immediately grabbed on to Chanyeol's jacket. Acting on reflex, Baekhyun snatched it back, almost stumbling at the force. The girl who tried to get it glared at him. "What's your problem? You don't want it."

Baekhyun glared back. "Doesn't mean you can have it."

"What does he see in you, anyway?" The girl snapped at him and even looked at him from head to toe. "You're no one special."

Someone gasped behind Baekhyun. He did not know who as anger surged through his system. Before he could think about it, he stood up and made a show of putting the jacket on in front of the girl. "I'm still the one wearing the jacket." 

The girl stomped off with a murderous glint in her eyes. Baekhyun sat down once again.

"So, you're wearing the jacket." Minseok remarked with a cheeky grin.

Baekhyun frowned at him. "I'm just keeping it safe. Who know, what others will do with it. They might do disturbing rituals with it."

"You can just hold on to it. No need to wear it." Jongdae said as he slurped on his coke and still managing to come off as a teasing remark.

Baekhyun decided to ignore them and laid back on his seat. Oddly enough, the jacket is comforting. Baekhyun felt warm and he's starting to think that it's not only because of the jacket.

When Chanyeol's name was called, the crowd around Baekhyun cheered loudly. Baekhyun joined them and as if knowing Baekhyun's cheering for him, Chanyeol looked back and saw Baekhyun standing with the crowd, cheering for him and wearing his jacket. Baekhyun saw him looking and grinned at him. Chanyeol nodded at him and with a determined look on his face, stepped into the court. He'll win this game. He got the best cheerer in the stands.


End file.
